According to a new study, patients taking beta-blockers and antiplatelet medications (such as aspirin) are at high risk of suffering a heart attack during very hot weather.
For people with coronary heart disease, beta-blockers are important medications that can improve survival and quality of life. Likewise, aspirin and other antiplatelet drugs can reduce the risk of a heart attack.
However, those protections could backfire during hot-weather events, a time when heart attacks are already more likely. A new study published on August 1 in the journal Nature Cardiovascular Research found that, among people suffering non-fatal heart attacks associated with hot weather, an outsize portion are taking these heart medications.
“Patients taking these two medications have higher risk,” said Kai Chen, an assistant professor in the Yale School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology (Environmental Health) and first author of the study. “During heat waves, they should really take precautions.”
Those safety precautions include cooling strategies like using air conditioning or visiting a public cooling center.
Air pollution, cold weather, and other external environmental factors can trigger heart attacks. There is growing evidence to suggest that hot weather can do so, too. However, epidemiologists are still working to identify which groups of people are most vulnerable to these environmental extremes. READ MORE...
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