TUESDAY, Nov. 12, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Beta blockers are go-to meds for many people who've survived a heart attack.

However, new Swedish research has found that they might not be needed for heart attack survivors whose hearts have retained a normal pumping ability. 

Using them in this group might even raise patients' odds for depression, the data showed.

“We found that beta blockers led to slightly higher levels of depression symptoms in patients who had had a heart attack but were not suffering from heart failure," said study lead author Philip Leissner, a doctoral student in cardiac psychology at Uppsala University.  

"At the same time, beta blockers have no life-sustaining function for this group of patients,” he said in a university news release.

His team published its findings recently in the European Heart Journal.

Heart doctors have for decades relied on beta blocker medications to help heart patients -- the drugs work by lowering the effects of adrenaline on the heart. 

But recent advances mean there are now more pharmaceutical options for cardiologists to pick from for people who've survived a heart attack, putting the use of beta-blockers into question.

According to Leissner's team, that's especially true for folks who have survived a heart attack but whose cardiac pumping action has retained its efficacy. In a study published in April, the Swedish researchers found beta-blockers to be unnecessary for this type of patient.

Their newer study finds the drugs might even pose harm.

They looked at data from more than 800 heart attack survivors without heart failure who had either been prescribed a beta-blocker or some other form of medication after their heart attack. The study ran from 2018 to 2023.

"Beta blocker treatment led to a modest increase in depressive symptoms" for heart attack survivors who weren't in heart failure, the researchers reported. 

That's not a complete surprise, they said, since prior studies have found beta blocker use tied to heightened odds for depression, insomnia and even nightmares.

The study also found that depression risks rose even higher among patients who'd already been taking a beta blocker before the study began, suggesting a dose-response relationship.

“Most doctors used to give beta blockers even to patients without heart failure, but as the evidence in favor of doing so is no longer so strong, this should be reconsidered," Leissner suggested. "We could see that some of these patients appear to be more at risk of depression. If the drug doesn’t make a difference to their heart, then they are taking it unnecessarily and at risk of becoming depressed."

More information

Find out more about heart failure at the American Heart Association.

SOURCE: Uppsala University, news release, Nov. 11, 2024