Yes. The headline you’re referring to is about beta-blockers, a common class of blood-pressure medicines. But there is an important clarification: the underlying study was published in 2020, not 2026, and it showed an association—not proof that beta-blockers cause heart failure. Some websites have recently republished or resurfaced the finding.
What did the researchers find?
The study, led by cardiologist Raffaele Bugiardini of the University of Bologna, examined 13,764 adults from 12 European countries. All participants had high blood pressure but no previous history of cardiovascular disease when they entered the analysis. Researchers used data from several acute-coronary-syndrome registries covering 2010–2018.
The researchers were particularly interested in whether men and women responded differently to beta-blocker treatment.
Among people who were already taking beta-blockers:
- Women had a 4.6% higher rate of heart failure than men when they arrived at the hospital with acute coronary syndrome (ACS).
- Among patients suffering a STEMI heart attack—a particularly severe heart attack caused by a usually complete coronary artery blockage—the difference was about 6.1% higher in women.
- Among people not taking beta-blockers, men and women had approximately similar rates of heart failure.
- Patients who developed heart failure during the acute coronary event had a dramatically higher mortality risk—approximately seven times higher than patients who had a heart attack without heart-failure complications.
What are beta-blockers?
Beta-blockers are medications that block the effects of adrenaline and related hormones on the heart. They generally:
- slow the heart rate;
- reduce the force with which the heart contracts;
- lower blood pressure;
- decrease the heart’s oxygen demand.
Examples include metoprolol, carvedilol, atenolol, bisoprolol and propranolol.
They are used for much more than high blood pressure. Depending on the drug and the patient’s condition, beta-blockers can be important treatments for abnormal heart rhythms, angina, previous heart attacks and certain forms of heart failure.
In fact, beta-blockers are established, beneficial treatments for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Current heart-failure guidelines recommend specific beta-blockers such as carvedilol, bisoprolol and sustained-release metoprolol succinate because they reduce mortality and hospitalization in appropriate patients.
So the headline does not mean “beta-blockers are dangerous for everyone with high blood pressure” or “beta-blockers cause heart failure.”
Why might women have had a different result?
The researchers don’t know for certain.
One possibility they discussed was a difference in how men and women process or respond to cardiovascular drugs. They also raised the possibility of an interaction between hormone-replacement therapy and beta-blockers, but importantly, the study didn’t collect the necessary information to test that hypothesis.
Other possibilities include differences in:
- body size and drug concentrations;
- hormone biology;
- blood-vessel function;
- heart structure;
- how the heart responds to a major coronary event;
- other medications and underlying risk factors.
These remain hypotheses rather than established explanations.
The biggest limitation: this wasn’t a randomized trial
This is extremely important.
The researchers looked retrospectively at existing medical records/registries. Patients weren’t randomly assigned to receive a beta-blocker or a placebo.
Therefore, the study can show that beta-blocker use and heart failure were associated in this particular population, but it cannot establish that the medication itself caused the additional risk.
For example, people who were prescribed beta-blockers might have differed from people who weren’t prescribed them in ways that weren’t completely captured by the database.
The researchers themselves emphasized that the study was observational and that additional evidence was necessary. They also didn’t have information about the patients’ exact beta-blocker doses or how long they had been taking the medication.
There’s another important issue with the headline
The wording “may raise heart failure risk” can be misleading.
The study did not show that women taking beta-blockers were generally developing heart failure simply because they were taking the drug.
The key situation was:
woman + hypertension + no previous cardiovascular disease + already taking a beta-blocker + subsequently presenting with acute coronary syndrome.
The observed difference concerned heart failure at the time of the acute coronary event.
That’s a much narrower finding than the headline suggests.
Should someone stop their beta-blocker?
No—not based on this study alone.
Abruptly stopping some beta-blockers can cause problems, including rapid heart rate, increased blood pressure, worsening angina and, in susceptible people, serious cardiac complications.
Whether a beta-blocker is appropriate depends heavily on why it was prescribed. A beta-blocker used only for hypertension is a very different situation from one being used after a heart attack, for an arrhythmia, or as part of treatment for HFrEF.
The American Heart Association’s current information continues to recognize beta-blockers as an important cardiovascular medication class, while treatment should be individualized.
Bottom line
The research raises a legitimate question about sex differences in response to beta-blockers, particularly among women with hypertension who later experience an acute coronary syndrome. But it doesn’t establish that beta-blockers cause heart failure in women, and it shouldn’t be interpreted as a reason for patients to discontinue treatment on their own.
If you tell me the name of the blood-pressure medicine you or someone you know takes (for example, metoprolol, atenolol, carvedilol, amlodipine, losartan, etc.), I can explain whether this particular finding applies to that drug, its known heart-failure risks, and what the latest evidence says in 2026.