Marcin Wisnios
Beta blockers slow down your heart rate. Doctors prescribe them to patients dealing with cardiovascular issues like high blood pressure, or even to treat mental health issues like anxiety. They’re so effective at calming people down that they’re even banned from some sports competitions that require steady, controlled movements like archery or fishing.
Now, as it turns out, the calming effects of beta Blockers might even help reduce violence. A new study published on Jan. 31 in the journal PLOS Medicine found that people taking beta blockers were less likely to become aggressive or charged with a violent crime. The authors believe that this opens even more doors of the medication to be used to treat mental issues like aggression and violence.
“Beta blockers act by blocking the action of adrenalin and noradrenalin, which are hormones associated with stress and one basis of the ‘fight-or-flight’ response,” Seena Fazel, a psychiatric researcher at the University of Oxford and co-author of the study, told The Daily Beast in an email. She added that this could result in the body’s response to “stressful and threatening situations.”
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