This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Silverback (talk | contribs) at 21:27, 17 April 2006 (→Erectile dysfunction). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

β₂ blockers

Nobody mentions a selective β₂ blocker, and I am not finding any in the subsequent disease/affliction pages which list any. anything would be nice. note also that the {{beta blockers}} template doesn't mention them either. Avriette 21:27, 25 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Anon question

hey i've got a question, is this just pretty much an anti-fear kind of thing. like you're more relaxed, more courageous really, right?

it mentions the use of beta blockers for stage fright, so i suppose i'm somewhat correct.

and what are the side effects really, say of using it when you don't really have the diseases that it is used for

I fixed your question. You should not have deleted Avriette's question, although it went unanswered.

Beta blockers are primarily used to lower blood pressure and to take strain of the heart. Some of its side-effects are suppression of tremors, flushing and other signs mediated by the sympathetic nervous system. Hence it will not reduce your stage fright, but stop you from getting the symptoms, which tend to make stage fright worse in some sort of a viscious circle. So they don't make you more courageous (there are some recreational substances that do that).

As for side-effects: they may make the blood pressure too low, leading to fainting, and some men report impotence. JFW | T@lk 14:23, 20 July 2005 (UTC)

Cleanup needed

Marked this article with {{cleanup-date}} as it contains many medical-related abbreviations, such as pt., ds., etc. Also, the format of the article needs significant cleanup to show which information goes with which beta blockers. I'd like to take care of this myself, but I'm marking it (and leaving the note here) in case I don't get around to it soon. --Animated Cascade 05:35, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

Done. -Techelf 10:55, 16 April 2006 (UTC)

Edits

Edited content to more accurately detail the action of beta blockers and added additional information. Also fixed spelling errors. Will continue work.
CHurst5841 01:58, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

β₂ receptors

β₂ receptors are in the heart as well, but not to the extent of β₁.

Erectile dysfunction

Beta blockers decrease nocturnal melatonin release, perhaps explaining the impotence side effect through suppression of morning erections. Stoschitzky K, Sakotnik A, Lercher P, Zweiker R, Maier R, Liebmann P, Lindner W. Influence of beta-blockers on melatonin release. Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 1999 Apr;55(2):111-5. PMID 10335905

I removed this excerpt during my subedit initially because the Stoschitzky article doesn't appear to discuss the relationship between beta blockers, melatonin levels and erectile dysfunction. Erectile dysfunction may be an adverse effect associated with beta blocker therapy, though some have argued that this a psychosomatic effect (Silvestri et al., 2003; PMID 14585251). Even if it's a pharmacological adverse effect, Occam's Razor applies here and it is far more likely to be a central adrenergic effect (since prevalence appears to be greater in more lipophilic agents (Smith & Talbert, 1986; PMID 2872991)) rather than a melatonin-mediated effect. I may have missed something, however, so feel free to restore the text if you have a reference that indicates erectile dysfunction is melatonin-mediated. -Techelf 07:29, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

It seems that a centrally acting lipophillic compound is what it would take to suppress melatonin release. Given, the importance of the melatonin to the body clock, a link to an established clock associated phenomena like morning erections is plausible. It is the only explanation I've been able to find. As someone who constantly screws up his body clock, I find melatonin very helpful in this regard.--Silverback 21:27, 17 April 2006 (UTC)