Beta Blocker List:

Beta Blocker List: An Introduction


Beta blockers are prescription medications used to treat many different conditions, such as high blood pressure (hypertension)
or irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmias). There are numerous different
beta blockers available, and there are several important differences
among the various beta blockers.


Beta Blockers By Type



Usually, beta blockers are categorized in a few different ways. Some are
"cardioselective" (meaning they are more likely to affect the heart and
blood vessels rather than other parts of the body), some have
"intrinsic sympathomimetic activity" (meaning they slightly stimulate
beta receptors while also blocking them), and some are alpha blockers as
well as beta blockers. Some beta blockers fall into more than one
category.

Cardioselective beta blockers (that are more likely to block beta-1 receptors rather than beta-2 receptors) include:

• Acebutolol (Sectral^®)
  
• Atenolol (Tenormin^®)
  
• Betaxolol (Kerlone^®, Betoptic^®)
  
• Bisoprolol (Zebeta^®)
  
• Esmolol (Brevibloc^®)
  
• Nebivolol (Bystolic^®)
  
• Metoprolol (Lopressor^®, Toprol-XL^®).
  
  

Beta blockers with intrinsic sympathomimetic activity (ISA) include:

• Acebutolol (Sectral^®)
  
• Carteolol (Ocupress^®)
  
• Penbutolol (Levatol^®)
  
• Pindolol (Visken^®).
  
  

Beta blockers that also block alpha blockers include:

• Carvedilol (Coreg^®, Coreg CR^®)
  
• Labetalol (Trandate^®).
  
  

Beta blockers that are non-selective, do not have ISA, and do not block alpha receptors include:

• Levobunolol (Betagan^®)
  
• Metipranolol (OptiPranolol^®)
  
• Nadolol (Corgard^®)
  
• Propranolol (Inderal^®, Inderal LA, InnoPran XL^®)
  
• Sotalol (Betapace^®, Sorine^®)
  
• Timolol (Betimol^®, Blocadren^®, Istalol^®, Timoptic^®).
  
  

Sotalol (Betapace^®, Sorine^®) is unique among
beta blockers in that it also blocks potassium channels in the heart.
Beta blockers that have not been approved (or are unavailable) in the
United States are not included in these lists.

(For a list of beta blockers by pregnancy category, see Beta Blockers and Pregnancy. For a list of beta blockers that are known to pass through breast milk, see Beta Blockers and Breastfeeding.)