Here are the top medical news for the day:
Cambridge Study Reveals Virtual Reality as a Game-Changer for Speech Anxiety
The fear of public speaking is widely cited as being the most common fear. Public speaking anxiety is a prevalent issue with significant negative impacts. While virtual reality exposure therapy is an effective treatment, it currently has significant limitations. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that the prevalence of social anxiety and a fear of public speaking are both on the rise. This is concerning when one considers the range of known subsequent negative impacts on mental health, physical health, academic attainment, and career progression.
To address this, Dr Chris Macdonald created an online platform where users transform into skilled and confident public speakers. On the platform, tailored course material develops key skills and life-like virtual reality training environments build confidence. Dr Macdonald explains, “In physical reality, a user might be practising a presentation alone in their bedroom but on the new virtual reality platform, they can experience the sensation of presenting to a wide range of increasingly challenging photorealistic audiences.”
By developing a method that converts smartphones into VR headsets, Dr Macdonald has made sure that the platform is accessible to all. A device mount could be thought of as a low-cost ‘conversion kit’ that transforms a user’s smartphone into a functional VR headset. Importantly, the platform has been built in such a way that whether a participant is using the latest standalone VR headset or an old smartphone inserted into a device mount, they will get the same content and the same experience.
As recently revealed in the academic journal, Frontiers, the platform has been clinically proven to significantly increase levels of confidence for most users after a single 30-minute session.
The research revealed that a week of self-guided use was beneficial to 100% of participants; the platform helped all users in one or more of the following ways: to feel more prepared, more adaptable, more resilient, more confident, to be better able to manage nerves, and to feel less anxious. To increase efficacy, the concept of overexposure therapy was developed: training in extreme scenarios that one is unlikely to encounter in real life.
A single-session experiment with 29 adolescents evaluated the platform’s impact on public speaking anxiety, confidence, and enjoyment. Results showed significant improvements in all three measures. These findings suggest that this novel approach holds promise. The paper concludes by exploring limitations and areas for future research.
Ref: Macdonald C. Improving virtual reality exposure therapy with open access and overexposure: a single 30-minute session of overexposure therapy reduces public speaking anxiety. Front. Virtual Real. , 16 December 2024; Sec. Virtual Reality and Human Behaviour: Volume 5 – 2024. https://doi.org/10.3389/frvir.2024.1506938
Sarcopenic Obesity: A Triple Threat for Diabetic Heart Failure Patients, Study Warns
A recent study highlights the potential risks associated with sarcopenic obesity (SO) in diabetic patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), suggesting that this condition may contribute to adverse left ventricular (LV) remodeling and poor clinical outcomes. The study found that SO was linked to poorer outcomes in diabetic patients with HFrEF.
"Patients with SO exhibited greater left ventricular enlargement, dysfunction, and increased mass, along with a threefold higher risk of adverse events compared to those without sarcopenia or obesity. These results highlight the importance of targeted interventions to manage this high-risk population effectively," the researchers reported in Cardiovascular Diabetology.
Obesity is common among heart failure patients and is a key risk factor for its development.
For this purpose, the researchers analyzed 283 patients using cardiac MRI, with thoracic skeletal muscle index (SMI) as a measure of muscle mass. Patients were classified based on median SMI and body mass index, identifying those with obesity and low SMI as having SO. LV volume, function, and systolic strain were evaluated, while clinical characteristics and cardiovascular outcomes, including heart failure readmission, cardiovascular mortality, and heart transplantation, were recorded.
The investigation revealed that the patients with sarcopenic obesity had higher levels of amino-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptides and were more likely to have hypoproteinemia compared to those with obesity but no sarcopenia. Among patients with obesity, those with sarcopenia showed greater left ventricular (LV) enlargement, more severe LV dysfunction, and increased LV mass. Over a median follow-up of 35.1 months, 25.8% experienced adverse outcomes, with the worst prognosis observed in the SO group.
The findings showed that sarcopenic obesity appears to be a high-risk condition in diabetic patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, contributing to adverse left ventricular remodeling and poor clinical outcomes. Patients with SO exhibited significant structural and functional deterioration of the heart, including greater myocardial dysfunction and a higher likelihood of unfavorable events.
Hence, the researchers concluded that these findings highlight the need for increased awareness, closer monitoring, and more targeted medical interventions to improve outcomes in this vulnerable group.
Reference: Shi, K., Zhang, G., Xu, R. et al. Association of body composition with left ventricular remodeling and outcomes in diabetic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction: assessment of sarcopenic obesity using cardiac MRI. Cardiovasc Diabetol 24, 79 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12933-025-02639-2
Study Reveals Cooling Therapy Ineffective for Preterm Infants Facing Oxygen Loss
Lowering the body temperature of preterm infants (born at 33 to 35 weeks of pregnancy) with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE)-a type of brain damage caused by oxygen loss-offers no benefits over standard care, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Previous studies of near-term and term infants (born after 36 weeks) with HIE found that this cooling treatment, which lowers body temperature to about 92 degrees Fahrenheit, significantly reduced the risk of death or disability by age 18 months (corrected for prematurity). However, the current findings show that such benefits are not observed for preterm infants with HIE.
The authors noted that use of the cooling treatment in preterm infants has increased, despite little research on its effectiveness in this age group.
HIE-associated oxygen loss can result from compression of the umbilical cord, a tear in the uterus, or other complications at birth. Of 188 preterm infants with HIE born from 2015 to 2020, 88 infants were assigned at random to the cooling treatment and 80 were maintained at normal temperature. Researchers evaluated occurrences such as death and moderate to severe disability when the infants were 18 to 22 months old.
They found that 35% of those receiving the cooling treatment and 29% kept at normal temperature had died or had a disability. More specifically, deaths occurred in 20% of those receiving cooling treatment and 12% of those receiving standard care. Overall, preterm infants who received the cooling therapy had a 74% higher risk of death or disability and an 87% higher risk of death.
Ref: Faix, RG et al. Whole-body hypothermia for neonatal encephalopathy in preterm infants 33-35 weeks gestation: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Pediatrics DOI:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.6613 (2025)
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