Andreas Heinz

Andreas Heinz, M.D. andreas.heinz@charite.de 49-30-450517001 Charité - University Medical Center Berlin
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"Relatives and friends of alcoholics often wonder why they continue to drink even though they intellectually know how detrimental this is for them," added Andreas Heinz, director and chair of the department of psychiatry at Charité - University Medical Center Berlin.
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There is, however, a silver lining, added Heinz.

"Patients often relapse when entering previous drinking situations, that is, entering a bar or a shop in which you can buy alcoholic drinks," commented Andreas Heinz, M.D., of Charite-University Medical Center in Berlin, a co-investigator.

"One reason may be that they fail to perceive dangerous situations.This study suggests that there is a neurobiological correlate of this often-reduced ability to perceive dangerous situations," he said

Most studies of the brain effects of alcoholism have focused on cognitive function.

The study did have a silver lining, according to Andreas Heinz, director and chair of the department of psychiatry at Charite - University Medical Center Berlin.

"Now we can begin to understand why patients have problems avoiding dangerous situations and, particularly, why they may not react to the concerns of their friends and relatives: the brain area that should help them appreciate these concerns is functioning at a reduced level," said Heinz.

But Happy Faces Work

"Furthermore, we observed a normal or even increased brain response to happy faces.Our group recently made a similar observation, in that patients with strong brain responses to pleasant pictures have a reduced relapse risk," Heinz said.

Importantly, paliperidone prolonged release tablets also showed significant improvement in patient functioning and that is an important aspect in the treatment of schizophrenia," said Professor Andreas Heinz, M.D., Director, Department of Psychiatry, Charite University Medical Center CCM, Berlin, Germany.

Andreas Heinz, director and chair of the department of psychiatry at Charite - University Medical Centre Berlin said: "Alcoholic patients are known to be sensation seekers and are less likely to shy away from signals that suggest danger.

"Now we can begin to understand why patients have problems avoiding dangerous situations and, particularly, why they may not react to the concerns of their friends and relatives: the brain area that should help them appreciate these concerns is functioning at a reduced level."

As a form of helping alcohol treatment, Professor Heinz added: "Patients with strong brain responses to pleasant pictures have a reduced relapse risk.

schizophrenia," said Professor Andreas Heinz, M.D., Director, Department of

The 2 year German research project was led by Professor Andreas Heinz, of Berlin's Charite Teaching Hospital and involved 60 alcoholic subjects who had dried out for a period of between 5 days and 3 weeks.They were put into a functional magnetic resonance imager and then photographs were taken of their brain when they saw photos of alcoholic drinks.The 'reward-centre' part of the brain was activated when the alcoholic subjects looked at a drink, whereas non-alcoholics did not have the reaction of the alcoholics.The research is not yet complete but there was a significant difference.

Professor Heinz commented: "This part of the brain is important for motivation.It's activity is subconscious and creates desire."He believes the research will mean easier and faster treatment for alcoholics."The work so far suggests that the technique can provide a method of seeing the level of alcoholism in a person", he said.

"Enhancing patient care for people with schizophrenia is something we strive for every day as physicians treating this illness," said Andreas Heinz, M.D., Director, Department of Psychiatry, Charite University Medical Center, Berlin.

"Enhancing patient care for people with schizophrenia is something we strive for every day as physicians treating this illness," said Andreas Heinz, M.D., director, Department of Psychiatry, Charite University Medical Center, Berlin.

"Drug dependence has frequently been observed in war veterans who also suffer from PTSD," added Andreas Heinz, director and chair of the department of psychiatry at Charité - University Medical Center Berlin.
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"The subjects suffering from PTSD had higher hospitalization rates, shorter periods of abstinence, and higher drug craving," added Heinz.
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Both Driessen and Heinz recommended that clinicians examine patients with an SUD in order to determine if PTSD is an underlying factor, and that researchers continue investigating specific treatment options. "Women in this study showed higher PTSD rates, which is in accordance with the literature," said Heinz.