If your doctor has prescribed a beta blocker for you, you may want to consider wearing a medical ID bracelet to alert healthcare professionals about your medication usage.
Here’s a quick rundown of what a beta blocker is, why it is important to take beta blockers consistently, and why you should wear a medical ID if you take a beta blocker.
What is a Beta Blocker?
Beta blockers are a type of prescription medication that treat hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias (irregular heartbeat), and heart failure. Nearly 30 million Americans (10% of adults) take a beta blocker.
Examples of beta blockers include metoprolol, carvedilol, bisoprolol, atenolol, and propranolol. Beta blockers prevent adrenaline from attaching to beta receptors, which slow the heart rate, lessen the force of the heart’s contractions, and relax blood vessels.
Taking Beta Blockers Consistently
Because your cardiac and circulatory system rapidly become accustomed to the beta blocker, it is very important to always take your beta blocker as prescribed. Beta blockers should even be taken in circumstances such as undergoing general anesthesia when many other medications will be held.
Stopping the beta blocker suddenly or missing doses greatly increases the risk of cardiac arrhythmias and uncontrolled hypertension (elevated blood pressure).
Why Wear a Medical ID?
Many of the conditions that are treated with beta blockers are “invisible,” meaning that they are not immediately obvious to the casual observer. This also means that they may not be obvious to a first responder in the event of an emergency. Conditions such as a history of cardiac arrhythmias and hypertension increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Wearing a medical ID that lists both the beta blocker and the condition for which it has been prescribed can save your life in the event of an emergency, especially if you lose consciousness. The medical ID will help first responders to identify the emergency that you experience and treat you promptly, which improves your outcome.
Picking Out Your Medical ID
At American Medical ID, there are a wide variety of different bracelets, necklaces, and other IDs to suit everyone’s tastes, budget and lifestyles. The friendly customer service staff can help you figure out what information to needs to be included on your bracelet at no charge.
