Beta-blockers are drugs that can help people with cardiovascular disease. However, some beta-blockers may not be good to use if you have asthma.

Asthma is a chronic respiratory condition that affects your ability to breathe. People with asthma often have other health conditions in addition to asthma, such as cardiovascular disease.

Doctors often prescribe beta-blockers for cardiovascular disease. However, beta-blockers may cause complications for people with asthma, as they can sometimes make asthma symptoms worse.

Different types of beta-blockers may be a better choice if you have asthma.

Certain beta-blockers can be safe for someone with asthma.

Beta-blockers help lower blood pressure and can reduce the speed of your heartbeat. They work by preventing the hormone, adrenaline, from binding to beta-receptors. There are two general categories of beta-blockers.

  • Selective beta-blockers: These target chemical binding sites in your heart via beta-1 receptors, and they mainly affect your heart rate and blood pressure. These are also known as cardioselective beta-blockers.
  • Nonselective beta-blockers: These can attach to either beta-1, beta-2, and sometimes to alpha-receptors. They can affect blood vessels throughout the body, including the lungs.

One side effect of nonselective beta-blockers can be a bronchospasm, which can tighten the airways of your lungs, making it hard to breathe. This can be a dangerous result for someone with asthma. However, this side effect is greatly reduced with cardioselective beta-blockers, which only affect the receptors in your heart.

Doctors don’t recommend nonselective beta-blockers for people with asthma, as there is a higher risk they could trigger an asthma attack.

Selective beta-blockers, or cardioselective beta-blockers, can be safe for someone with asthma. While they do carry some risk of worsening asthma symptoms, doctors usually consider their benefits against cardiovascular disease to be greater than the potential risk. If used as directed, people with asthma can safely use cardioselective beta-blockers.

Beta-blockers prevent the effects of hormones, such as adrenaline. This can lead to decreased heart rate and blood pressure, which is helpful for cardiovascular disease and other health conditions.

However, beta-blockers can also target receptors in the lungs and get in the way of the body’s ability to expand the airways during exercise or when certain allergens are present. This may lead to a worsening of asthma symptoms, such as:

Some beta-blockers may cause asthma medications to be less effective. This is because many asthma medications, including inhalers, use beta-agonists, such as albuterol, to dilate the airways and relieve constriction.

The role of many beta-blockers is to decrease the heart rate, which can tighten the airways and worsen asthma.

However, cardioselective beta-blockers don’t have the same interaction with asthma medications, as they are less likely to target receptors in the airways. These types of beta-blockers are generally safer to use as long as you use them as directed.

Selective beta-blockers, or cardioselective beta-blockers, are the safest beta-blockers for people with asthma and cardiovascular disease.

These types of beta-blockers have been shown to not make asthma symptoms worse and you could safely use them when they’re medically needed. However, some cardioselective beta-blockers are a safer choice than others when it comes to asthma risk.

The names of selective beta-blockers that are typically safer for people with asthma are:

You should use other selective beta-blockers with more caution in people with asthma. These include:

Talk with a doctor to learn which medication is best to work with both your asthma and cardiovascular symptoms.

Beta-blockers are medications that can be beneficial for people with cardiovascular disease. However, some beta-blockers may not be appropriate for a person who also has asthma, as they may make their asthma symptoms worse.

Cardioselective beta-blockers target the heart area specifically and are a safer option for someone with asthma. They still carry some risk of side effects. But the benefits generally outweigh the risks and can be safe if taken exactly as directed.

If you have asthma and need to take beta-blockers, speak with a doctor about which medication will be best for you. Always make sure to inform a doctor of all your physical and mental health conditions. Even if they may seem unrelated to you, they may still change the way certain medications affect your body.