New research shows that blood pressure, like heart rate and breathing, synchronises more to predictable phrase structures in music, which may improve the body’s baroreflex sensitivity, i.e. its ability to regulate blood pressure. 

92 participants had their blood pressure continuously monitored while listening to nine out of 30 piano music tracks. The piece of music that had the most predictable phrase structures, and the biggest impact on blood pressure, was the English pianist Harold Bauer’s performance of Franz Liszt’s transcription of Franz Schubert’s Serenade.  

The researchers say this finding could pave the way to create personalised music-based non-pharmacological cardiovascular therapies in the future.  

The Cardiovascular Research Foundation^® (CRF^®) is excited to announce the late-breaking clinical trials and science set to be presented at TCT^® 2025, the annual scientific symposium of CRF^® and the world’s premier educational meeting specializing in interventional cardiovascular medicine. This year’s conference will take place October 25–28 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, bringing together top experts, innovators, and clinicians from around the globe.

New research shows that treatment of heart failure patients with a type of anti-obesity medication reduces the environmental footprint of healthcare, as well as improving clinical outcomes.  

People being treated for heart failure with GLP-1 receptor antagonists used 0.25 kg CO₂-equivalent less per person annually, compared to patients with heart failure taking a placebo. When this saving is scaled to the millions of people eligible for the treatment, the findings suggest that 2 billion kilograms of CO₂-equivalent could be saved annually. 

The study is one of the first to quantify the environmental co-benefits of pharmacologic treatment. The authors hope that studies like this will empower policy makers, clinicians and patients to consider environmental outcomes alongside clinical outcomes in the future. 

New research finds that low fitness levels and older age are strong and independent risk factors for heartbeat irregularities, or arrhythmias*, in healthy adults. These arrhythmias were previously thought to be harmless, but are now considered to be an indicator of future cardiovascular risk (1,2) 

The results support the introduction of age-based arrhythmia screening in over 50s, to allow for early intervention before symptoms arise to alter the trajectory of disease  

There was a particularly strong association between lower aerobic fitness and risk of frequent and complex atrial arrythmias, highlighting the critical role of physical fitness in preserving the electrical stability of the heart