Reacción a "Reactions to research linking beta-blocker treatment with lower rates of violence"

This study has several strengths, including the combination of data from different national registers in Sweden, and the within-individual design (i.e. studying whether the risk of violent crime in individuals was different when they took beta-blockers than when they did not). 

I would like to stress that this is an observational study, so we do not know whether the decreased risk of violent crime is due to beta-blockers or to other factors that the authors could not take into account. For more evidence on whether beta-blockers actually decrease the risk of violent crime, more randomised trials should be done. 

Although previous studies are rather sparse, they also point to a possible benefit of beta-blockers in reducing aggression, at least in the short term. 

To better understand whether beta-blockers could be beneficial in reducing aggression, we should first have more randomised trials studying both short- and long-term efficacy and side effects.