Results of a clinical trial seem to show the first effective treatment for the negative symptoms - withdrawal, lack of emotion, and apathy - associated with schizophrenia. This work is presented at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology conference in Amsterdam. Schizophrenia is one of the most common serious mental health conditions, with around 1 in 100 people experiencing schizophrenia in their lifetime*. The main symptoms fall into 3 categories: positive symptoms, such as delusions and hallucinations; negative symptoms, such as lack of drive and social withdrawal; ...

An international group of researchers have found that food craving activates different brain networks between obese and normal weight patients. This indicates that the tendency to want food may be 'hard-wired' into the brain of overweight patients, becoming a functional brain biomarker. Obesity is one of the most difficult problems facing modern society. Treating obesity is a health priority, but most efforts (aside from bariatric surgery) have met with little success. In part, this is because the mechanisms associated with the desire to eat are poorly understood. Recently, ...

Brain imaging shows that testosterone therapy given as part of sex reassignment changes the brain structures and the pathway associated with speech and verbal fluency. This result supports research that women in general may deal with speech and interaction differently than men. The sex hormone testosterone exerts a substantial influence on human behaviour and cognition. Previous studies have shown that testosterone has a particular influence on verbal fluency. But these investigations (which due to ethical reasons are mostly observational studies or one-off hormone administrations) ...

According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 800,000 Americans die each year from heart disease and stroke. Acute coronary syndrome, which includes heart attack and unstable angina, a condition that can lead to a heart attack, are among the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. In addition to lifestyle changes, medications that lower blood cholesterol are helpful in preventing future cardiac and vascular events, including heart attack and stroke. New data from a clinical trial led by cardiologists at Brigham and Women's ...

London, UK - 30 Aug 2015: Efforts to improve automated external defibrillator (AED) usage increase bystander defibrillation in public places but not at home, reveals a study of more than 25 000 cardiac arrest patients presented at ESC Congress today by Dr Steen Hansen, a PhD student in the Department of Health, Science and Technology at Aalborg University in Denmark.1 Efforts included increased numbers of AEDs, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) education and a nationwide AED registry. "An AED promptly used by a person present at the cardiac arrest site before the emergency ...

London, UK - 30 Aug 2015: Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has been linked to a 30% lower risk of nursing home admission and brain damage in survivors of cardiac arrest outside hospital in research presented at ESC Congress today by Dr Kristian Kragholm, a PhD student in the Department of Anesthesiology, Cardiovascular Research Centre, Aalborg University Hospital, Denmark.1 "We know that survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest has improved in recent years but until now the degree of disability in survivors was unknown," said Dr Kraghom. "Our study examined ...

London, UK - 30 Aug 2015: Ezetimibe reduces cardiovascular events in patients with diabetes and a recent acute coronary syndrome, according to a subgroup analysis of the IMPROVE-IT trial presented at ESC Congress today by co-principal investigator Dr Robert Giugliano, physician in cardiovascular medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, US.1 Ezetimibe achieved greater reductions in LDL cholesterol than statins alone, resulting in lower risks of cardiovascular events in patients with diabetes. The benefits observed in diabetics were greater than in those without ...

London, UK - 30 Aug 2015: Particulate matter and NO2 air pollution are associated with increased risk of severe heart attacks despite being within European recommended levels, according to research presented at ESC Congress today by Dr Jean-Francois Argacha, a cardiologist at University Hospital Brussels (UZ Brussel-Vrije Universiteit Brussel), in Belgium.1 "Dramatic health consequences of air pollution were first described in Belgium in 1930 after the Meuse Valley fog," said Dr Argacha. "Nowadays, the World Health Organization (WHO) considers air pollution as one of ...

London, UK - 30 Aug 2015: Young adults living in a polluted city show early signs of cardiovascular risk, according to research presented at ESC Congress today by Dr Krzysztof Bryniarski from Jagiellonian University, Collegium Medicum in Krakow, Poland.1 Residing in a polluted city was associated with higher levels of inflammatory markers in otherwise healthy adolescents and young adults, which indicate a greater risk of having a heart attack in future. Dr Bryniarski said: "This study was conducted by a group of medical students from Jagiellonian University in Krakow, ...

London, UK - 30 Aug 2015: Cold weather is associated with a higher risk of severe heart attack, according to research presented at ESC Congress today by Dr Shuangbo Liu, adult cardiology resident at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada.1 The six year study found that each 10°C drop in temperature was associated with a 7% increased risk of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), the most severe form of heart attack. "We studied the effects of temperature on the risk of heart attacks in Winnipeg, Canada, one of the coldest large cities in the world," said ...

London, UK - 30 Aug 2015: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest should be conducted for at least 35 minutes, according to research presented at ESC Congress today by Dr Yoshikazu Goto, associate professor and director of the Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine at Kanazawa University Hospital in Kanazawa, Japan.1 The study in more than 17 000 patients found that nearly all survivals were achieved within 35 minutes and longer CPR achieved little benefit. Dr Goto said: "The decision regarding when to stop resuscitation efforts ...

London, UK - 30 Aug 2015: Cold weather is associated with increased risk of ischaemic stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation, according to research presented at ESC Congress today by Dr Tze-Fan Chao, cardiologist at Taipei Veterans General Hospital and the National Yang-Ming University in Taiwan.1 The study in nearly 290 000 patients suggests that cool climate may be an underrated issue for health that deserves more attention. "Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia and it increases the risk of ischaemic stroke by four- to five-fold," ...

LONDON, UK - In patients with long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) despite standard treatment, additional electrical isolation of an area called the left atrial appendage (LAA) can improve freedom from AF without increasing complications, results of the BELIEF study show. The findings were presented today in a Hot Line session at ESC Congress 2015. "Empirical left atrial appendage isolation, along with the standard approach of pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) and ablation of extra-pulmonary triggers is superior to the standard approach alone in enhancing the ...

LONDON, UK - Adherence to the oral anticoagulant apixaban among patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) was no better for those who received an educational program compared to those who did not, results of the international, randomised AEGEAN trial show. The results, presented today at ESC Congress 2015, were nevertheless "quite encouraging," according to lead investigator Gilles Montalescot, MD, PhD, from the Institut de Cardiologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Pitié-Salpêtri?re, in Paris, France. "We used the best possible tools for the educational program, ...

LONDON, UK - Late recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF) is not reduced in patients whose pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) treatment incorporates the addition of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), according to results of the UNDER-ATP trial. Results of the trial, presented at ESC Congress 2015, add to the ongoing debate about ATP use in this setting. The major cause of AF recurrence after PVI has been reported to be electrical reconnection between the left atrium and pulmonary veins, which re-establishes abnormal rhythm, said study investigator Atsushi Kobori, MD, from Kobe ...

LONDON, UK - A leadless cardiac pacemaker showed "good safety and reliable function" during the initial six months of follow-up in the LEADLESS II study, investigators reported during a Hot Line presentation at the ESC congress 2015. The findings, published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggest the device is effective and safe, and can serve as an alternative to conventional transvenous pacemakers in patients with indications for permanent pacing, said principal investigator Vivek Reddy, MD. "Leadless cardiac pacemakers have the potential to ...

LONDON, UK - In patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) treated with radiofrequency catheter ablation, the addition of antiarrhythmic drugs (AADs) for 90 days after the procedure did not reduce arrhythmia recurrence rates at one year, according to results of the Efficacy of Antiarrhythmic Drugs Short-Term Use after Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation (EAST-AF) trial. Results of the study, presented as a Hot Line at ESC Congress 2015 The study did show a temporary benefit of AAD, but the effect disappeared as soon as medication was stopped, suggesting no benefit to ...

London, UK - 30 Aug 2015: The impact of atrial fibrillation on ischaemic stroke risk in elderly patients is eliminated with multiple risk factors, according to an 11 year study in more than 425 000 patients presented at ESC Congress today.1 The findings suggest that stroke prevention in the elderly may need to focus on the concomitant effects of multiple risk factors rather than on a specific risk factor such as atrial fibrillation (AF). "The incidence of ischaemic stroke increases with greater numbers of cardiovascular risk factors," said principal investigator Dr Yutao ...

LONDON, England - 30 August, 2015: Patients arriving at the emergency department with chest pain suggestive of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) can be triaged more quickly and more safely using a new rapid assay with refined cut-offs, German research suggests. The Biomarkers in Acute Cardiovascular Care (BACC) study, presented as a Hot Line at ESC Congress 2015, suggests this new algorithm can reduce mortality and cut triage times to one hour, compared to the standard three-hour approach. "There is an urgent need for fast decision-making for this growing patient population," ...

LONDON, UK - 30 August, 2015: Heart attack patients without heart failure derive no benefit from the addition of mineralocortoid receptor antagonists (MRA), to standard therapy, results of the ALBATROSS study show. The Hot Line findings, reported at ESC Congress 2015, "do not warrant the extension of MRA use" to such patients, said the study's principal investigator Gilles Montalescot, MD, PhD. MRAs, also known as aldosterone antagonists, inhibit sodium retention and excretion of potassium and magnesium, and therefore "there is an indication for MRA therapy in MI ...

LONDON, UK - In patients with a large myocardical infarction (MI), pacing, with the left ventricular (LV) lead placed in the area of the lesion (peri-infarct) did not prevent further enlargement of the heart (remodeling), nor did it improve functional or clinical outcomes after 18 months, according to results of the Pacing Remodeling Prevention Therapy trial (PRomPT) trial. In MI patients with large infarcts, medical therapy and rapid restoration of blood flow to the area is not always enough to prevent cardiac remodeling. One reason for remodeling may be the response ...

LONDON, UK - 30 August, 2015: The immunosuppressant drug cyclosporine did not improve clinical outcomes compared to placebo in patients receiving percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for the more severe form of heart attack known as ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Results of the CIRCUS trial, presented today in a Hot Line session at ESC Congress 2015, and published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine. showed that the drug, administered prior to PCI, had no impact on a composite of all-cause death, hospitalisation for - or worsening ...

LONDON, UK - In patients with chronic ischemic heart disease, a small left ventricle with thick walls, is the strongest predictor of morphologic remodelling, which is generally considered a first step towards heart failure, according to unexpected findings presented today at ESC Congress 2015. Results of the DOPPLER-CIP (which stands for "Determining Optimal non-invasive Parameters for the Prediction of Left vEntricular morphologic and functional Remodeling in Chronic Ischemic Patients") study were not expected and, if confirmed by other studies, "could completely change ...

A major multi-national study of suicides has identified the behaviour patterns which precede many suicide attempts. This may lead to changes in clinical practice in the care of patients affected with depression, as it shows the clinical factors which confer major risk of suicide attempts. The statistics for suicide are frightening. According to the WHO, more than 800,000 people commit suicide every year, with perhaps 20 times that number attempting suicide. Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the young (in the UK for example, it is the leading cause of death ...

A group of UK scientists have found a way of understanding how transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can give relief to severely depressed patients. TMS is used as an alternative to Electro-Convulsive Therapy (ECT)*, but it is not known how it achieves its therapeutic effect. Understanding how it works may open the door to better, more targeted treatment for depression and other conditions. Transcranial magnetic stimulation works by applying a magnetic pulse to the frontal part of the brain of depressed patients. Like ECT, it seems to 'reset' the brain, but is easier ...