nutritional misunderstanding

[jgp]

i believe in good nutrition, so i'm on 25000 beta carotene vitamin a 3000-c,400-e,2000-l-carnitine and 1200 omega-3. but still tired, and low b-pressure 102/76 pulse 68. my father-in-law said he stopped his atenolol a got more energy. i went on web md and typed in atenolol. i found out it does make you sleepy, but they found out it helps copd, is this possible? i can take being a little tired if it helps my flare ups of emphysema thanks and god bless

[barbara]

This is really a question for the doctor that prescribed it for you. If you have a heart condition and it is helping that, it probably does make you feel better. I have never heard that it helps emphysema patients, but if you had heart problems as well, then maybe so.

[jgp]

barb; thanks for the reply, my main interest was i've heard beta blockers are not good for copd patients. if anybody would like to go to web md and put atenolol(beta-blocker) in search space, they will see that research is being done to find out how bad it was. instead it showed it slowed flare ups etc. thanks again.

[Kaye]

JGP and Barbara,
Here is some info that I ran across on beta blockers. I was placed on them after the last hospitalization but they made me feel exhaused and sleepy all the time. I discontinued and the pulmo didn't have a problem with it.

Beta-Blockers May Boost COPD Survival Rates
Study challenges traditional dogma.
CHEST Physician Article | 06.16.10
BY MARY ANN MOON
Elsevier Global Medical News

Beta-blockers appeared to improve survival in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and decreased the risk of exacerbations by nearly 30%, according to a report in Archives of Internal Medicine.

Beta-blockers are known to improve survival in patients with a wide spectrum of cardiovascular diseases. But the benefits shown in an observational cohort study were surprising, the study investigators noted, because the drugs often are withheld in COPD patients because of fear they will promote bronchospasm and induce respiratory failure.

Even more surprising was the finding that beta-blockers benefited COPD patients who had no known cardiovascular disease, said Dr. Frans H. Rutten of the University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands, and his associates.

?The traditional dogma ... states that beta-blockers are contraindicated in COPD because of their presumed bronchoconstrictive properties and ?competition? with beta-2 agonists,? the researchers said. In theory, however, those drugs could benefit COPD patients ?by tempering the sympathetic nervous system or by reducing the ischemic burden,? they added (Arch. Intern. Med. 2010;170:880-7).

The researchers assessed 2,230 patients aged 45 years and older (mean age 65 years) who attended 23 general practices in the vicinity of Utrecht from 1995 through 2005. Those patients either had COPD at the start of the study period (560 patients) or developed the disorder during the study (1,670 patients).

A total of 665 patients used beta-blockers, while 1,565 did not.

Overall, 686 patients in the study died. The all-cause mortality rate was 27% among those who used beta-blockers, a significantly smaller proportion than the 32% among subjects who did not use the drugs.

Similarly, 1,055 of the study?s patients had at least one COPD exacerbation during follow-up. That included 43% of those who used beta-blockers, a significantly smaller proportion than the 49% rate in patients who did not use the drugs.

?To our knowledge, this is the first observational study that shows that longterm treatment with beta-blockers may improve survival and reduce the risk of an exacerbation of COPD in the broad spectrum of patients with a diagnosis of COPD,? Dr. Rutten and his colleagues said.

?Cardioselective beta-blockers had larger beneficial effects on mortality than nonselective ones, but similar effects on risk of exacerbation of COPD,? they added.

?Interestingly, the association of betablocker use with all-cause mortality and risk of exacerbation of COPD also remained in patients who were taking two or more pulmonary drugs or who were using inhaled beta-2 sympathicomimetics or anticholinergic agents,? the investigators noted. ?Therefore, inhaled pulmonary medication seems not to interfere with the results of beta-blocker use.?

A recent meta-analysis of randomized trials has already shown that betablockers are well tolerated by COPD patients.

Adding the results of the observational study to those findings, it seems clear that ?the time has come to confirm these results in a randomized controlled trial,? according to Dr. Rutten and his associates.

The study findings ?provide a rationale for the practicing clinicians to use betablockers (even noncardioselective ones such as carvedilol) cautiously in their patients with COPD who also have a coexisting cardiovascular condition for which a beta-blocker is required,? noted Dr. Don D. Sin, FCCP, and Dr. S. F. Paul Man, FCCP, both of the University of British Columbia and Providence Heart and Lung Institute, Vancouver, in an editorial comment accompanying the report (Arch. Intern. Med. 2010;170:849-50).

?These data may be of great clinical relevance in COPD because cardiovascular diseases (and not respiratory failure) are the leading causes of hospitalization,? Dr. Sin and Dr. Man noted. Cardiovascular diseases account for almost 50% of all hospital admissions, ?as well as being the second-leading cause of mortality, responsible for 25% of all deaths, in patients with mild to moderate COPD,? they wrote.

?By encouraging more liberal use of beta-blockers, we may be able to reduce the overall burden of disease and improve health outcomes in patients with COPD,? they said.

Although Dr. Sin and Dr. Man agreed that a large randomized controlled trial is needed to confirm the results, they noted that the study ?has turned the story of beta-blockers in COPD into a curious case of a foe becoming a potential friend to millions of patients with COPD worldwide.?

[RENE]

Nutritional misunderstanding have been clear with the help of this thread, and provide complete information about the nutrition. which are good for the health.

[Bev12452]

I was put on beta blockers because my heart was racing even while sitting but I am on a low dose 12.5 twice a day It has made my breathing easier amd the heart has slowed down but the blood pressure has dropped barely goes over 100 normally 96 over 60 my neice who is a RNP said as long as bottom number stays above 60 its all good I thought it was panic attacks but now I am able to deal with everything without losing my breath

[Jeannine]

BEv

I am glad to see you posting. I was thinking about you the other day and hoping you were doing OK.

[Bev12452]

AWWWW it is so nice to be missed I have been so busy running all over with y father he was diagnosed with maculaer degeneration so between Drs appointment for him and Drs appt for me not much time left he needsfull time care but not ready to put him in a home I will be going to see DR F in April can't say I notice much difference but I haven't been sick and still off the steroids the one thing I don't like is the neb will talk to him about it when I see him I think I felt better when I just took the spiriva and advair now I don't use either anyway hope all are warm so tired of being cold

[barbara]

What are you nebulizing? Also, if you haven't been sick and you got off steroids, I would have to say that those are improvements.

[Bev12452]

I am so sorry. I just reread my post and I was all over the place . I have been doing pretty good considering all the DRs office I have been in lately I haven't taken any steroids in at least four years and haven't really been sick since I moved from Jersey I am trying to avoid the transplant and get off the o2 my husband yells at me cause I don't exercise so I need to push myself in that area ,but the treadmill looks so nice decorated with things I don't know where to put. well the sun has finally come out need to go get my dose of vitamin d hope all have a great day each day we wake up it is a great day