Beta-blockers don't increase depression risk

By Will Boggs, MD

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Treatment with a class of drugs called beta-blockers do not appear to increase a patient's risk of depression in the first year after a heart attack, according to a report in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Physicians do not have to be hesitate in prescribing beta-blockers in heart attack patients anymore, Dr. Joost P. van Melle from University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands, told Reuters Health. Some common beta-blocker trade names used in the U.S. include Inderal, Lopressor and Toprol XL.

van Meller and his colleagues note that beta-blockers have reduced mortality in heart patients by 23 percent. These drugs are also used to treat high blood pressure, angina, migraine and other disorders. However, concerns about neurological, psychological and other side effects persist.

The researchers investigated the association between beta-blocker use and depression in the first 12 months after heart attack 381 patients.

The team found that Beck Depression Inventory Scores at 3, 6, and 12 months post-heart attack did not differ significantly in patients taking beta-blockers and patients not taking beta-blockers. The results indicate that patients taking beta-blockers were no more likely to be diagnosed with depressive disorder during the year after their heart attack than those not taking beta-blockers.

Among patients taking beta-blockers, outcomes did not differ by type of beta-blocker they received -- a hydrophilic beta-blocker or a lipophilic beta-blocker.

"Despite current beliefs about the potential side effects of beta-blockade," van Melle and colleagues write, "we found no support for short-term effects on prospective depression in an (heart attack) population."

However, at 6 and 12 months, the researchers note, patients taking high-dose beta-blockers had significantly higher scores on the Beck Depression Inventory test (indicating lower depression levels) than did patients taking low-dose beta-blockers.

"More research is warranted to explore the long-term and high-dose effects of beta-blockers on depressive (symptoms)," the investigators conclude.

SOURCE: Journal of the American College of Cardiology, December 5, 2006.