Major update to popular anti-anxiety medication as 'fatal' side effect on women revealed

A drug widely used to treat mental health conditions such as anxiety could have a potentially 'fatal' side effect in female patients.

The medication is also used to treat some heart and circulatory conditions, and according to the British Heart Foundation has some 50 million prescriptions in the UK every year.

But a new study carried out in Spain found that not only does the drug not appear to have any benefit for people who are recovering from heart disease, but that some patients were more likely to die if they were taking it.

The study raises serious questions about the safety and utility of the drug which has been a part of standard medical practice for decades.

This may even mean a review of how this medication is prescribed.

Women are particularly affected by the medication, the study found (Olga Pankova/Getty)

The drug is of course beta blockers, a staple of medicine for some 40 years.

Published in the European Heart Journal, the study found that women who had less damage after a heart attack were more likely to have another heart attack, need to go to hospital, or suffer heart failure.

Dr Valentin Fuster is the general director of the National Center for Cardiovascular Investigation in Madrid.

She said: “These findings will reshape all international clinical guidelines on the use of beta-blockers in men and women and should spark a long-needed, sex-specific approach to treatment for cardiovascular disease.

“We found no benefit in using beta-blockers for men or women with preserved heart function after heart attack despite this being the standard of care for some 40 years.”

It's not the first time that issues have been found with beta blockers, with previous studies also finding problems with nausea, fatigue, and sexual dysfunction.

Beta blockers have been used for decades (Peter Meade/Getty)

Dr Borja Ibáñez is the scientific director for Madrid’s National Center for Cardiovascular Investigation and a co-author on the study.

Dr Ibáñez said: “After a heart attack, patients are typically prescribed multiple medications, which can make adherence difficult.

“Beta blockers were added to standard treatment early on because they significantly reduced mortality at the time.

“Their benefits were linked to reduced cardiac oxygen demand and arrhythmia prevention. But therapies have evolved.

“Today, occluded coronary arteries are reopened rapidly and systematically, drastically lowering the risk of serious complications such as arrhythmias.

“In this new context, where the extent of heart damage is smaller, the need for beta blockers is unclear.

“While we often test new drugs, it’s much less common to rigorously question the continued need for older treatments.”

You should not stop taking medication without first consulting your doctor.