Category:Beta Blockers
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Beta blockers (β-adrenergic antagonists) competitively block β-adrenergic receptors. Introduced in 1964 with Propranolol (James Black, Nobel Prize 1988), they are now mainstays for hypertension, ischemic heart disease, heart failure, certain arrhythmias, migraine prophylaxis, situational anxiety, and several other conditions.
Propranolol in particular is widely used as a peripheral anxiolytic — it blunts the somatic (heart-racing, tremor, sweating) manifestations of acute anxiety without sedation, which makes it a fixture in performance anxiety, akathisia, and essential tremor.
Subclasses
- Non-selective (β1 + β2): Propranolol, Nadolol, Timolol, Sotalol
- Cardioselective (β1-preferring): Metoprolol, Bisoprolol, Atenolol, Esmolol
- β1-selective with vasodilation (NO-mediated): Nebivolol
- Mixed α/β: Labetalol, Carvedilol
Cautions
- Asthma / severe COPD (β2 blockade → bronchospasm)
- Severe bradycardia / high-degree AV block
- Decompensated heart failure (initiate low and slow)
- Never stop abruptly — rebound tachycardia, hypertension, angina
Pages in category "Beta Blockers"
The following 4 pages are in this category, out of 4 total.