Beta-blockers Protect Patients with Lung Disease

Beta-blockers, a commonly used blood pressure drug, can protect patients with lung disease, according to a new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Researchers do not yet know why the drug appears to have a protective effect for patients with lung diseases like emphysema, but intend to conduct additional studies to uncover this link.

Previously, doctors avoided using beta-blockers on patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) because of concerns that the drug may have adverse effects on the lungs. The new study suggests otherwise. Participants taking beta-blockers were 32% less likely to see a fatal outcome and 39% less likely to experience worsening of COPD, even if they were not suffering from any heart problems at the time.

''Our study is the first that clearly gives a hint that beta-blockers could also exert a pulmonary beneficial effect as shown by their reduction of exacerbations," says  researcher Frans Rutten, M.D., PhD, an assistant professor of medicine at the Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care at the University Medical Center Utrecht, Netherlands.

The study examined more than 2,200 men and women, age 45 and older, who were diagnosed with COPD between 1996 and 2008. One group received beta-blockers, while others received different types of cardiovascular drugs, occasionally in combination. During the seven-year follow-up period, 31% saw fatal outcomes and 47.3% experienced at least one episode of worsening COPD.

Because COPD patients are also prone to cardiovascular disease, they often need medications to treat both. However, beta-blockers have often been replaced by more advanced medications.

Rutten says the next step is to compare beta-blockers with a placebo in patients with COPD, both with and without co-existing cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure, to confirm the results.

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