ReviewHigh blood pressure & cardiovascular prevention : the official journal of the Italian Society of Hypertension2023
Beta-Blockers and Hypertension: Some Questions and Answers.
Review in High blood pressure & cardiovascular prevention : the official journal of the Italian Society of Hypertension, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Present and Future Options for Pharmacotherapy in Cardiovascular Disease: Hemodynamic and Mechanistic Therapeutic Targets.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Effects of High-Intensity Interval Training on Blood Pressure Levels in Hypertensive Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Marfan syndrome: insights from animal models.Frontiers in genetics · 2024Review
- The Sympathetic Nervous System in Hypertensive Heart Failure with Preserved LVEF.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionInternational guidelines have removed b-blockers from first-line treatment of hypertension, limiting their use to patients with compelling indications. The position of guidelines stems from the results of studies performed with the 1st and 2nd generation of b-blockers, which concluded that these drugs have lower cardiovascular protection, compared with other antihypertensive agents.
aimThe aim of our mini review is to answer to some questions about the effect of b-blockers on hypertension and cardiovascular protection and if these effects are different from those of other antihypertensive drugs, particularly in young and elderly patients.
methodsWe evaluated the relevant systematic reviews and meta-analyses, which reported the effectiveness of b-blockers on blood pressure and cardiovascular outcomes, compared with placebo/no treatment and with other antihypertensive agents.
resultsBeta-blockers, decreased high blood pressure with no significant difference from other common antihypertensive agents. Moreover b-blockers, compared with placebo, lowered the risk of major cardiovascular outcomes, while, compared with other drug classes, the reported results are very heterogeneous. Therefore it is difficult, globally, to find a difference between b-blockers and other drug classes.
conclusionsRather than looking for differences in the cardiovascular protective effect between b-blockers and other antihypertensive agents, we have to consider the different pathophysiology of hypertension in young [sympathetic hyperactivity] and elderly patients [arterial stiffness, high aortic systolic pressure]. Considering these aspects, non-vasodilating b-blockers are preferred, as first-line, in young/middle aged hypertensive subjects, while vasodilating b-blockers, are most appropriate, in elderly patients, for the favourable hemodynamic profile.
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Registered trials
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