TY  - JOUR
T1  - Β-blocker therapy and depression
AU  - Messerli FH, Grossman E
Y1  - 2002/10/16
N1  - 10.1001/jama.288.15.1845
JO  - JAMA
SP  - 1845
EP  - 1846
VL  - 288
IS  - 15
N2  - 
To the Editor: We disagree with the conclusions
of Ko et al1 that the conventional wisdom
of β-blocker therapy being associated with depressive symptoms, fatigue,
and sexual dysfunction is not supported by data from clinical trials. Their
data show that the withdrawal rate of β-blockers because of fatigue was
more than 2 times higher, and that due to sexual dysfunction almost 5 times
higher, than in patients receiving placebo. In the Medical Research Council
studies,2- 3 the withdrawal
rate for patients taking β-blockers because of fatigue was between 10
and 24 times that for those receiving placebo and also significantly higher
than that for those taking diuretics, which are known to have a well-documented
adverse effects profile.

SN  - 0098-7484
M3  - doi: 10.1001/jama.288.15.1845
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.288.15.1845
ER  -