ITASCA, IL--(Marketwire - October 31, 2008) - AtCor Medical (ASX: ACG) today said that a breaking study* in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology reported that slowing the heart rate with beta blockers is associated with greater risk of heart attack and death in hypertensive patients. According to the senior author, Dr. Franz Messerli (St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital), the team that authored the study believes that slowing that heart rate may increase central blood pressure (the pressure in the ascending aorta) which has been associated with increased risk of heart attack, stroke and kidney disease. "Slowing the heart rate with beta blockers increases the central pressure, and obviously the latter is one of the determinants of stroke and heart attack," Dr. Messerli said in an interview with heartwire.
