Young adults who are moderate to heavy drinkers are at increased risk of suffering a stroke — and the risk goes up with more years of imbibing, a new study suggests. The rate of stroke among young adults has been increasing over the last few decades, and stroke in young adults causes death and serious disability

Here's another vote for less screen time. Using a smartphone application to track blood pressure won't lead to any greater reduction in BP than self-monitoring the old-fashioned way, a new study finds. "By itself, standard self-measured blood pressure (SMBP) has minimal effect on BP control," wrote lead author Mark J. Pletcher, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues in JAMA Internal Medicine. "To improve BP control, SMBP must be accompanied by patient feedback, counseling, or other cointerventions, and the BP-lowering effects of SMBP appear to be proportional to the intensity of the cointervention."

@rikrounak This study supports the notion that disease endotypes, driven by diverse molecular pathology pathways in the diseased tissue, determine diverse clinical and treatment-response phenotypes. It also highlights the importance of integration of molecular pathology signatures into clinical algorithms to optimize the future use of existing medications and inform the development of new drugs for refractory patients

Depression is a potentially life-threatening mood disorder that affects 1 in 6 persons in the United States, or approximately 17.6 million Americans each year. Depressed patients are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Not counting the effect of secondary disease states, over the next 20 years, unipolar depression is projected to be the second leading cause of disability worldwide and the leading cause of disability in high-income nations, including the United States. Morbidity associated with depression is difficult to quantify, but the lethality of depression takes the measurable form of completed suicide, the tenth leading reported cause of death in the United States. The current economic cost of depressive illness is estimated to be $30-44 billion annually in the United States alone. In addition to considerable pain and suffering that interfere with individual functioning, depression affects those who care about the ill person, sometimes destroying family relationships or work dynamics between the patient and others. Therefore, the human cost in suffering cannot be overestimated.

@gilli Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and tuberculosis (TB) are two major infectious diseases posing significant public health threats, and their coinfection (aptly abbreviated COVID-TB) makes the situation worse. The initial signs and symptoms of COVID-19 are similar to other respiratory infections, such as tuberculosis (TB) and influenza. However, coinfections with common viral, bacterial, and fungal pathogens among COVID-19 patients are not unusual, which can interfere with the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, TB had been the most fatal infectious disease in the world for many years. Globally, an estimated 10 million people contracted TB and 1.4 million died from TB in 2019. At present, evidence suggests that the main transmission route of both COVID-19 and TB is via respiratory droplets, and their main target are the lungs, which can lead to a worse outcome among COVID-19 and TB coinfection patients (aptly abbreviated COVID-TB). Therefore, due to the high prevalence of both of these infectious diseases and the potential worse prognosis of coinfection, an intensive investigation of COVID-TB cases may be of great clinical significance. However, few studies have focused on COVID-TB cases to date, and most of these are case reports involving only one patient, thus precluding systematic summaries of the clinical characteristics of coinfection cases. In addition, it is unclear whether COVID-TB patients have a worse prognosis or are more likely to develop severe disease, thus necessitating further study.

Hello, I am getting headache whenever I use laptop, what should I do? Do I need to see a doctor? I am 23 years old. I use laptop a lot.

@mishtu Achalasia is a benign idiopathic disorder caused by progressive neuronal degeneration in the mesenteric plexus of Auerbach, which causing non-relaxing, hypertensive lower esophageal sphincter (LES) and a peristalsis of the esophageal body. This functional damage is irreversible and the treatment of esophageal achalasia is mainly palliative.

Last week, while my teacher was in the middle of telling me a very important story, I did something very rude. I just couldn't help it. I opened my mouth and inhaled a giant involuntary yawn. Was I bored with her story? Heck, no. But it definitely created an awkward moment. The best I could do was explain what a yawn really meant. How to reduce yawning?

@miraj Rheumatic fever is caused by a group A β haemolytic streptococcal infection, and initially presents as a sore throat. Approximately 2–4 weeks later, symptoms manifest as fever, polyarthralgia, polyarthritis, chorea and erythema marginatum. Acute rheumatic carditis occurs when there is a cross-reaction between the bacterial carbohydrate cell wall and the valve tissue (antigenic mimicry), causing chronic damage to valve tissue,6 which is then termed RHD. Risk factors include poverty, overcrowding, lack of access to medical care and young age. There is international consensus on how to reduce the global health burden of RHD; current guidance focuses on secondary antibiotic prophylaxis, primary prevention and primordial prevention by improving living conditions. Themes reinforced in this case report include the need for improved training of healthcare professionals to detect ARF symptoms earlier, informing the population to attend a clinic at an early stage (sore throat, joint pains), access to echocardiography, surgical valve repair rather than replacement and particularly in the case of the latter, enhanced postoperative care.