Health News: Knee and Hip Replacements May Be Bad for the Heart ♦ A single cocaine dose lowers perceptions of sadness and anger ♦ Testosterone changes brain structures

Testosterone changes brain structures in female-to-male transsexuals 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.

Clinical trial shows first treatment for ‘emotional flatness’ associated with schizophrenia 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.

Psychotic patients distinguished from controls while watching movie Alice in Wonderland Researchers using fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) have found that even first-episode psychotic patients process information differently from a control group. To ensure both groups experienced the same brain stimuli, the measurements were taken while the subjects watched a movie, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.

Knee and Hip Replacements May Be Bad for the Heart Contrary to recent reports, researchers found that osteoarthritis patients who had total knee or hip joint replacement surgery, known as arthroplasty, were at increased risk of heart attack (myocardial infarction) in the early postoperative period. However, findings indicate that long-term risk of heart attack did not persist, while the risk for venous thromboembolism -- blood clot in veins and lungs -- remained years after the procedure

A single cocaine dose lowers perceptions of sadness and anger A single dose of cocaine can interfere with the ability to recognize negative emotions such as anger and sadness.