Cardiac structure and function in people with first episode psychosis

Schizophrenia is a severe long-term mental health condition. People with schizophrenia die 15-years earlier than the general population, mainly due to heart disease.

Increased risk of heart disease in schizophrenia is due to lifestyle factors (e.g., smoking), illness-related factors (e.g., symptoms of schizophrenia interfering with an individual’s ability to engage with physical health services), and treatment-related factors (e.g., antipsychotic medication which causes weight gain).

There is also emerging evidence that schizophrenia is associated with alterations in several organ systems beyond the brain, and that these changes may contribute to increased cardiac disease risk.

For example, our research has shown that people with schizophrenia, at the onset of illness and prior to antipsychotic treatment, have increased levels of inflammation, glucose, and fat in the blood. We have also shown that increased genetic risk for schizophrenia is associated with smaller and less elastic hearts.

Furthermore, using detailed (MRI) scans, we have shown that physically healthy people with schizophrenia have smaller and more inflamed/fibrotic hearts compared to the general population.

We plan to build on our previous work by using MRI scans to look at how the heart works in people with schizophrenia at the very start of the illness, and prior to antipsychotic treatment. We will also see if we can identify any heart changes using blood tests. We hope to gain new insights into the mechanisms responsible for heart disease in people with schizophrenia.

This promises to help us develop targeted treatments to improve the physical health of people with schizophrenia.