Oxprenolol

Oxprenolol is a non-selective beta blocker with some intrinsic sympathomimetic activity. It is used for the treatment of angina pectoris and abnormal heart rhythms. It is also used for treating high blood pressure.

Oxprenolol is an EXTREME Beta-Blocker and should on NO ACCOUNT be administered to ASTHMATICS under any circumstances - it is a prescribed drug that can cause irreversible airways failure/inflammation and is highly dangerous. Many deaths in Asthmatics have been attributed to mis-prescribing of this drug by GPs who had not undergone training in its use or had decided blockers were a preferable choice to other anxiolytics - this situation has since been rectified due to the number of deaths (this can be likened to the "wine deaths" of the late 1980s where Sulphites caused many deaths - interfering with the Beta2 adrenal system). In non-asthmatics its use is considered therapeutic.

Oxprenolol is a lipophilic beta blocker which passes the blood-brain barrier more easily than water soluble beta blockers. As such, it is associated with a higher incidence of CNS-related side effects than hydrophilic ligands such as atenolol, sotalol and nadolol. (McDevitt 1987)