Use of Beta Blockers associated with reduced risk of death from COPD

According to a new observational study,use of beta-blockers is associated with reduced risk of hospitalization and death in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).The study has appeared in EClinicalMedicine.

The possible association between β-adrenoceptor antagonists (β-blockers) and risk of COPD is controversial. The objective of the present study was to test whether β-blocker use is associated with susceptibility to the disease.

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  Users of β-blockers had an overall 19·7% lower risk of COPD hospitalization compared to users of any other antihypertensive drug during follow-up.


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  Users of β-blockers had an overall 44% lower risk of death from COPD compared to users of any other antihypertensive drug.


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  Results from this study advocates changes in the present hesitation of treatment with β-blockers in patients at risk of or with concomitant COPD.

Thr researchers included a total of 301,542 new users of β-blockers and 1,000,633 new users of any other antihypertensive drugs aged 30–90 years without any history of COPD hospitalizations in the present study Using Danish registries, researchers followed 300,000 adults who were prescribed beta-blockers for more than 6 months and 1 million users of other antihypertensive medications. Those with a prior COPD hospitalization were excluded.

Beta-blocker users had a significantly lower rate of COPD hospitalization, compared with patients who used other antihypertensive drugs (649 vs. 919 cases per 100,000 person-years). This benefit was not seen in patients with diabetes, however. Overall, beta-blocker use was also associated with lower all-cause and COPD mortality.

The authors write that their results advocate for "changes in the present hesitation of treatment of hypertension with beta-blockers in patients at risk of or with concomitant COPD."Treatment with β-blockers seems to reduce risk of COPD hospitalization and mortality compared to treatment with any other antihypertensive drugs.