Airwaves
β BLOCKERS REDUCE MORTALITY IN COPD
It is well known that β blockers reduce mortality in patients with cardiovascular disease. COPD is often complicated by cardiovascular disease and patients are often not treated with β blockers due to concern over possible worsening of airways obstruction, even though cardioselective β blockers have little deleterious effect on airway function. In this issue, Dransfield and colleagues report a study of patients with COPD hospitalised with an exacerbation. The authors show, after correcting for relevant confounders, that COPD patients treated with β blockers have a lower in-patient mortality, than those patients not …
