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β-Blockers after Acute Myocardial Infarction in Elderly Patients with Diabetes Mellitus

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Abstract

β-Blockers effectively reduce mortality and recurrent cardiovascular events in patients surviving myocardial infarction. However, these agents are underused in clinical practice, especially in older patients with diabetes mellitus. The current literature shows that β-blockers are at least as effective in older diabetic patients as in other patients, without major safety concerns for their possible adverse effects. The use of these agents in clinical practice should therefore be encouraged, in order to reduce the burden of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in older diabetic patients post-infarction.

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Acknowledgements

The authors have no conflicts of interest directly relevant to the content of this review. Supported by grant 5 P60 AG10484 from Claude D. Pepper Older Americans’ Independence Center.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Sticht Center on Aging, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA

    Mauro Di Bari & Marco Pahor

  2. Department of Critical Care Medicine and Surgery, Unit of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, University of Florence, and Azienda Ospedaliera Careggi, Florence, Italy

    Mauro Di Bari & Niccolò Marchionni

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  1. Mauro Di Bari
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Correspondence to Mauro Di Bari.

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Di Bari, M., Marchionni, N. & Pahor, M. β-Blockers after Acute Myocardial Infarction in Elderly Patients with Diabetes Mellitus. Drugs Aging 20, 13–22 (2003). https://doi.org/10.2165/00002512-200320010-00002

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