Many of us believe that we are great drinkers and that alcohol does not affect us as much. People who are able to drink without showing any sign of inebriation are known as social drinkers. In short, they are not addicted to alcohol but will not turn down the opportunity to have a good time! While it may seem like it doesn’t affect you, new studies suggest that it is just an illusion, even if you have high tolerance, alcohol affects your cognitive and motor functions more than you think.

The study reveals the below implications and techniques:

• Researchers used a new MRI technique to precisely measure brain electrical activity.
• By comparing brain scans before and after drinking, scientists identified specific areas affected by alcohol and how much brain activity slowed down.
• Participants were chosen to be regular social drinkers without alcohol addiction, ensuring the study focused on the effects of alcohol alone.
• MRI technology provided reliable data on brain activity changes caused by alcohol consumption.

How does the brain react to alcohol?

Think of it as the foundation for your brain's performance. When brain conductivity is high, information flows smoothly, and that helps your brain in rapid processing and response. On the other hand, low conductivity can hinder cognitive function, leading to slower thinking, impaired memory, and difficulties with coordination.

A study conducted at the Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) and UNSW Science unveiled a startling connection between alcohol consumption and brain conductivity.

What is the connection between alcohol consumption and brain activity?

While many people brush off the effects of alcohol as temporary changes in behaviour, the reality is much more complex. Beyond the obvious impacts on coordination and judgment, alcohol significantly alters brain function. Alcohol dramatically slowed down brain activity, especially in areas responsible for decision-making, planning, and physical coordination. This decline was so significant that it resembled the brain changes seen in normal ageing. This means even one drink could temporarily accelerate the ageing process of your brain.

Alcohol and Brain activity: What does the study Imply?

The implications of this research are far-reaching. It provides compelling evidence that alcohol consumption has a direct and measurable impact on brain function. The discovery that alcohol can significantly reduce brain conductivity opens new avenues for understanding the neurocognitive effects of alcohol abuse and dependence. While you may not feel like alcohol is affecting you and you have a high tolerance, it most definitely changes and affects your decision-making abilities and impulse control.

Furthermore, the MRI technique employed in the study could be a valuable tool for assessing the impact of other substances on the brain and for developing interventions to mitigate alcohol-related brain damage.

Millions of Americans hit the gym hoping the numbers on the scale will quickly drop. But if weeks of consistent workouts haven't translated into evident weight loss, a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association (AHA) can explain why.

Published in the journal Circulation recently, the review explains why exercise alone is not enough to achieve meaningful weight loss unless it is combined with dietary changes or very high levels of physical activity.

However, researchers stress that even when body weight barely changes, regular exercise delivers powerful benefits for heart health, metabolism, and overall well-being.

Exercise Alone May Not Lead To Major Weight Loss

The AHA study says that while physical activity burns calories, many people unknowingly compensate by eating more or moving less throughout the rest of the day. As a result, hitting the calorie deficit needed for significant weight loss is often missed.

The statement found that exercise by itself usually results in less than 5% body weight loss unless aerobic activity reaches approximately 225 to 420 minutes per week. Fewer than 15% of people achieve clinically significant weight loss through exercise alone.

Most individuals lose only around 3% of their body weight with exercise without making dietary changes. The health benefits begin long before the scale changes

Researchers emphasize that focusing only on body weight misses many of the most important effects of exercise.

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Regular physical activity can:

• Lower blood pressure
• Improve cholesterol levels
• Enhance insulin sensitivity and blood sugar control
• Reduce inflammation
• Improve cardiovascular fitness
• Lower the risk of heart disease and premature death

These health improvements can occur even when there is little change in body weight.

Exercise Helps Preserve Muscle While Losing Fat

One of the biggest concerns during weight loss is losing muscle along with fat. According to the AHA, combining exercise, particularly resistance training, with calorie deficit helps preserve lean muscle mass.

Maintaining muscle is important because it supports metabolism, mobility, strength, and healthy blood sugar regulation.

Researchers also note that consuming adequate protein alongside resistance exercise further helps protect muscle during weight loss.

One of the researchers said, "For most people, cardio exercise without changing your diet is unlikely to result in a large amount of weight loss. Dietary changes remain the primary driver of weight loss. However, physical activity plays a powerful supporting role when combined with other treatments, including healthy eating, weight loss, medications, or surgery. Exercise can help people lose a little more weight, preserve important lean mass, especially with resistance exercise, and improve overall health."

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Dr. Danielle L. Swift, chair of the scientific statement writing group and professor at the University of Virginia, said in an American Heart Association news release, "Maintaining weight loss is often more difficult than achieving it."

The statement highlights that consistent physical activity is one of the strongest predictors of keeping lost weight off over the long term.

US Obesity Crisis

The findings come as obesity continues to affect more than four in 10 adults in the US, increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and several cancers. At the same time, the AHA reports that only one in four U.S. adults meets the recommended physical activity guidelines.

The authors say people should rethink what "success" looks like after starting an exercise routine. If blood pressure falls, cholesterol improves, energy increases, sleep improves, and fitness rises, meaningful health improvements are occurring even if the scale moves slowly.

Night shift workers often face the risks of poor sleep or sleep deprivation. They have long been advised to aim for one uninterrupted block of daytime sleep after work.

However, a new review suggests that splitting sleep into two separate periods, known as biphasic sleep, can help them avoid certain health risks.

Can Biphasic Sleep Help Night Shift Workers?

Night shifts have become an unavoidable part of our lives. Healthcare professionals, emergency responders, factory employees, and transportation workers often work overnight.

Night shifts can disrupt the body's internal clock, increasing the risk of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, depression, and cognitive decline.

Research also shows that night shift workers typically sleep one to four hours less than daytime workers, leading to chronic sleep debt over time.

The recent review, published in the journal Sleep Medicine Reviews, examined existing research on biphasic sleep among shift workers.

Researchers found that while evidence is still emerging, dividing sleep into two episodes can help workers get more sleep, improve alertness during night shifts, and potentially reduce a few long-term health risks associated with chronic sleep deprivation.

The researchers noted that although sleep recommendations traditionally focus on obtaining one long sleep period, many shift workers naturally divide their sleep into two episodes. They usually sleep for a few hours immediately after work and then take another longer sleep before returning for the next night shift.

Also read: Not Just Exhaustion, Sleep Disorders Can Alter Your Brain's Attention & Decision-Making Centres: Study

"Biphasic sleep may help mitigate sleep loss-related impairments," the authors wrote, while observing that its potential benefits have not been fully understood until now.

According to the review, this split-sleep pattern could help workers accumulate more total sleep over a 24-hour period while fitting better around their daytime commitments.

Evidence also suggests biphasic sleep may improve alertness, reduce fatigue, and enhance cognitive performance compared to one uninterrupted daytime sleep, which is often shortened and disrupted by noise, light, or social obligations.

The findings build on a growing body of research suggesting that sleep does not necessarily have to occur in one continuous block to provide health benefits.

A 2025 review also stated that biphasic sleep may be a natural and flexible sleep pattern for some people and could be particularly useful for shift workers, new parents, and others facing unavoidable sleep disruption.

Split Sleep Is Not A Permanent Fix

Experts do caution that split sleep is not a permanent solution. The latest review emphasizes that evidence is still limited as there are just a few reliable studies that directly compare biphasic and monophasic sleep among night workers.

Factors like shift schedules, chronotype, workplace demands, and individual health conditions can all influence whether the strategy is effective.

Sleep specialists also stress that the total amount of sleep remains the most important factor.

Adults should still aim for seven to nine hours of sleep within a 24-hour period whenever possible. Good sleep hygiene, including using blackout curtains, reducing noise, avoiding caffeine before bedtime, and maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, continues to play a key role in protecting long-term health.

A new study suggests that rising temperatures, floods and droughts could affect the predictability and frequency of waterborne disease outbreaks. Climate change can alter the traditional patterns of disease transmission in ways that are more complex than previously understood.

Researchers state that public health systems can no longer rely on existing weather-disease relationships, as global warming has significantly changed the environmental conditions and their influence how pathogens survive, spread and infect people.

Effect Of Climate Change On Waterborne Diseases

The review says that increasing temperatures, extreme rainfall, prolonged droughts and flooding do not simply increase disease risk. Instead, they can alter the timing, intensity and location of outbreaks, making them less predictable.

"Climate change is resetting many of the environmental conditions that determine when and where waterborne diseases emerge," the researchers noted, emphasizing that disease surveillance systems must evolve to keep pace with these changing dynamics.

According to the researchers, several climate-related factors work together to increase the likelihood of contaminated water and disease transmission.

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Higher Temperatures

Warmer water allows bacteria, viruses and parasites to multiply more rapidly. Pathogens such as Vibrio cholerae, which causes cholera, thrive in warmer aquatic environments.

Heavy Rainfall And Floods

Extreme rainfall can overwhelm sewage systems and contaminate drinking water with human and animal waste. Floodwaters also spread pathogens into rivers, lakes and groundwater supplies.

Drought

Although drought reduces water availability, it can also increase disease risk. Limited water supplies often become more concentrated with pathogens, while communities may be forced to use unsafe water sources.

Poor Sanitation After Climate Disasters

Storms, cyclones and floods frequently damage sanitation infrastructure, creating conditions where waterborne infections can spread rapidly.

These factors interact in different ways depending on geography, infrastructure and local climate, making future outbreaks increasingly difficult to forecast.

Also read: How To Spot Leptospirosis, Dengue, Malaria During Monsoons? Early Symptoms Not To Neglect

What Diseases Are Likely To Be Affected By Climate Change?

Researchers say climate-sensitive waterborne illnesses include:

• Cholera
• Acute diarrheal diseases
• Typhoid fever
• Hepatitis A
• Gastroenteritis
• Other bacterial and parasitic infections spread through contaminated water

Children, older adults and people living in regions with limited access to safe drinking water and sanitation are expected to face the greatest risks.

What Do Experts Recommend?

The researchers stress that instead of reacting to outbreaks the governments should strengthen climate-friendly public health systems. The key recommendations include:

• Expanding water quality monitoring
• Improving disease surveillance
• Investing in resilient water and sanitation infrastructure
• Developing climate-informed early warning systems
• Strengthening emergency preparedness for floods and droughts

Researchers say that understanding the evolving relationship between climate and infectious diseases will be essential to protecting communities across the world as global temperatures continue to rise.

Climate change is increasingly being recognized as a major public health threat, extending beyond heatwaves and air pollution to affecting patterns of infectious diseases.

The new review suggests that future waterborne disease outbreaks may not simply become more frequent but also less predictable, requiring health systems to adapt quickly to a changing climate.

As extreme weather events become more common worldwide, researchers warn that protecting safe water supplies and strengthening surveillance will be critical to reducing the growing burden of waterborne diseases.