With the holiday season high, there is festive cheer, family gatherings and also an undeniable increases in alcohol consumption that fills the air. Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations to spring break and bachelor parties and sporting events that bring together huge crowds for celebrations mean that drinking becomes synonymous with partying. But behind the revelry lies a much darker behavior: high-intensity drinking.

Alcohol is the most widely used substance in the United States; it has been reported that 84% of adults aged 18 and older reported lifetime use. Moderate drinking is socially acceptable, but high-intensity drinking is an alarming trend. The behavior of consuming eight or more drinks over a few hours for women and 10 or more for men exceeds binge drinking and significantly increases risk for harm.

High-intensity drinking is far from being just a mere passing concern; it is instead a public health crisis. The burden is even greater as 29 million people in the United States suffer from alcohol use disorder. That has caused over 140,000 deaths annually while accounting for 200,000 hospitalizations and 7.4% of visits to emergency departments in the United States. However, only 7.6% of these affected get treated, thus forming a glaring gap in handling this concern.

What Is High-Intensity Drinking?

High-intensity drinking is a dangerous escalation from traditional binge drinking, characterized by consuming double or triple the standard binge amounts. While binge drinking involves four or more drinks for women and five or more for men, high-intensity drinkers often surpass these levels, leading to blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) exceeding 0.2%—a level that significantly impairs judgment and motor skills.

According to Dr. George Koob, the director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), high-intensity drinking is one of the factors that intensify the risks of injuries, overdose, and death. It is also very highly associated with the onset of AUD, since the chance of addiction increases with increased alcohol consumption per occasion.

Blackouts and Memory Loss Risks

One of the most troubling consequences of high-intensity drinking is alcohol-induced blackouts, periods of amnesia where individuals may appear functional but are incapable of forming memories. Blackouts occur when alcohol disrupts the hippocampus, the brain region responsible for memory formation.

Blackouts are often categorized into two types:

1. Fragmentary Blackouts: Characterized by spotty memory, where recalling certain details can trigger partial recollection.

2. En Bloc Blackouts: Significant amnesia for hours, wherein no memory is created at all, even if tried to be recalled.

Aside from memory loss, intense binge drinking is linked with poor decision-making, violence, injury, and conflicts in personal relationships.

Why Holidays and Special Events Are Hotbeds for Excessive Drinking

Holidays and celebrations create the perfect storm for high-intensity drinking. According to research, adults drink nearly double the amount of alcohol during holidays like Christmas and New Year's Eve than they do at any other time of the year. It is during these periods of social gathering, holiday stress, and seasonal sadness that people drink in excess.

For college students, experiences like spring break and 21st birthdays increase the danger. Some studies indicate that students, especially those who travel with buddies to spring break, indulge in more alcohol and make more serious decisions than any student who remains at home or goes with their family to other destinations. Sporting events are, too, notorious for promoting drunk consumption, especially among male customers. Alcohol consumption usually goes high during Super Bowl Sunday, thus leading to games day violence and arrests.

Consequences of Heavy Intensity Drinking

High-intensity drinking impacts not only physical health and mental well-being but also social relationships.

Acute Risks

- Alcohol poisoning

- Severe dehydration and electrolyte imbalances

- Hypoglycemia

- Risky sexual behavior

- Injuries and accidents

Chronic Risks

- Liver damage, alcoholic hepatitis, and cirrhosis

- Cardiovascular diseases such as arrhythmias and cardiomyopathy

- Neurological damage, including memory deficits and blackouts

- Progression to alcohol dependence or AUD

Psychological Impact

High-intensity drinking is strongly linked with increased risks of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Poor decision-making during episodes can lead to long-lasting consequences, including damaged academic, professional, or personal outcomes.

How to Address the Problem

Combating high-intensity drinking requires education, early intervention, and accessible treatment options. The NIAAA has defined high-intensity drinking to be distinct from binge drinking and has called for targeted approaches to decline prevalence and associated harms.

One promising treatment option is naltrexone, which a medication helps control alcohol cravings. Encouraging in preliminary evidence, more extensive clinical trials will be necessary to ascertain its efficacy more specifically in high-intensity drinkers.

As we head into the holiday season and other special occasions, it is important to heighten awareness of the dangers of high-intensity drinking. A good understanding of long-term consequences and seeking help when alcohol-related issues arise can be the difference between life and death. Celebrations should be about joy and connection, not about the gateway to harm.

If you or someone you know drinks at dangerous levels or have an alcohol use disorder, there is help available. Remember, for suspected cases of alcohol poisoning, dial 911. In this way, we can foster healthier relationships with alcohol and create safer environments for everyone.

In 2025, Andhra Pradesh reported 1,566 scrub typhus cases, and nine suspected deaths, according to data from the Integrated Health Information Platform, Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP-IHIP) on 8 December. Followed by Karnataka with 1,870 cases, Tamil Nadu 7,308 cases, and Telangana, 309 cases. Scrub typhus cases have significantly increased from previous year. It is one of the deadliest infections affecting multiple organs, or even death. Early it was relevant to poeple working in fields, new studies show it migrating to human settlements.

What Is Scrub Typhus?

Scrub typhus, also known as bush typhus, is a bacterial infection caused by bacteria infection, caused by bacterium Orientia tsutsugamushi. It is spread through bites of infected larval mites, Chiggers.

Most cases of scrub typhus occur in rural areas of Southeast Asia, Indonesia, China, Japan, the Indian subcontinent and northern Australia. Until now, it was believed that chiggers only lurked in the tall grasses of remote paddy fields or dense forests. Due to this, it is commonly known as "farmers' disease", only confined to the fields.

However, new PLOS study data revealed the opposite. The study is led by researchers from Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore and international collaborators and suggests that the bulk of infections are now even occurring within human settlements.

The study monitored over 32 000 people in Tamil Nadu, which led to the conclusion that agricultural activities, long considered the primary risk factor, were only weakly associated with the disease in high-prevalence areas.

How are Human Settlements A Prime Factor?

Risk for scrub typhus is significantly higher for those living in clustered houses or homes with fewer rooms. If the micro environment around the residence is unmaintained, gardens are patched, or even the damp corners of a courtyard, it could lead to breeding ground for the mites and the rodents that carry Chiggers.

Who Is At Most Risk?

It was once believed that working-age men were the most affected, but the new study tells otherwise. According to the new data, women over 60 are at the highest risk of infection.

As women spend most of their time in and around the home, due to household work, from the kitchen to the laundry, these activities are now the primary cross point of contact with infected mites.

What Is the Risk Factor Of Infection?

As initial symptoms of infection, such as fever, headache, and muscle pain, are the same as viral flu or dengue, many first seek help from untrained practitioners or local pharmacies.

By the time they reach the hospital, the disease has already progressed to severe complications like acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), Kidney failure, or Meningoencephalitis, which is inflammation of your meninges and brain at the same time, a life-threatening condition.

Not only this, the researchers revealed that nearly 10 percent of affected households exceed 25 percent of their income in the treatment.

For severe cases, the cost of treatment can be up to approximately INR 110,000, a staggering sum for rural and peri-urban families earning a fraction of that monthly.

Prevention

• Do not let the grass grow tall around your house
• Tightly maintain kitchen gardens and remove piles of wood or debris where rodents (the primary hosts for mites) might nest.
• As chiggers are usually found close to the ground, do not sit directly on the grass or soil. Use chairs or mats. For children, make them wear socks and full- length trousers while playing in the yard.
• If you notice a small, dark, cigarette-burn-like mark, it is usually left behind by mites. It is most likely "Eschar". It is an important critical clue. As the bite is painless, it often goes unnoticed.
• Do a thorough skin check for an eschar, especially in warm, moist areas like the armpits, groin, or behind the knees.

Early intervention is necessary, as if a fever lasts more than two days, don't just treat it as "seasonal fever".

Consult a qualified doctor and specifically ask about scrub typhus. Infection can be treated with doxycycline common antibiotic, in the early stages. The case fatality rate in this study was 1.5 percent, hospital based studies in South India have previously recorded mortality rates as high 30 percent when treatment is delayed

Shingles, caused by the reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus (the same virus that causes chickenpox), can strike more than once, especially in older adults and people with weakened immune systems. Vaccination against the virus is the most effective way to prevent shingles and related complications, said health experts as part of the Shingles Awareness Week.

The World Health Organization estimates that over 90 percent of individuals worldwide are infected with the varicella-zoster virus, indicating a high susceptibility to shingles.

Health experts explained that the varicella-zoster virus remains dormant in the nerves of the body after an attack of chickenpox.

Dr. Monica Mahajan, Senior Director – Internal Medicine, Max Multi Speciality Centre, Panchsheel Park, told HealthandMe that the virus can remain in an inactive state for two to five decades, or even longer.

When the immunity decreases, the virus can re-activate to cause shingles. The most common symptoms include a rash with sharp, shooting, or stabbing nerve pain.

While it is rare, shingles can recur as one episode of the disease doesn’t grant lifelong immunity.

“It is possible to get shingles infection more than once. An episode of shingles may not give lifelong immunity to the disease. Although it is a rare occurrence, people who have had shingles once can get it again. But those who get vaccinated after the first attack of shingles can prevent the second attack,” Dr. Mahajan said.

How Do Shingles Disrupt Life?

The common manifestation of shingles is a painful blister-like rash, which usually occurs only on one side of the body or face.

It is followed by post-herpetic neuralgia -- a nerve pain that arises in the areas where the rash was located, which often lasts for months or years after the rash has cleared up.

“It is severe and excruciating and is sometimes described as a pain that is worse than chronic cancer pain,” Dr. Chandani Jain Gupta, Dermatologist & Aesthetic Physician, Elantis Healthcare, New Delhi, told HealthandMe.

Dr. Gupta noted that shingles can also affect the eye, impacting the patient's ability to see.

Other less frequent complications of shingles are secondary bacterial infections of the rash, pneumonia, blindness, hearing loss, and neurological complications involving the brain. Fatigue, fever, and sensitivity to touch are other potential complications due to shingles.

Who Is At Risk Of Shingles?

As longevity increases, the phenomenon of ‘immunosenescence’ becomes more common. This means that as we age, our immunity declines, and this process generally starts at the age of 50 years.

"As life expectancy is increasing, more and more people live well beyond the age of 50 years. These people have lowered immunity and are at a higher risk of developing shingles," Dr. Mahajan said.

People who suffer from conditions such as diabetes, HIV, cancer, and patients with kidney or liver transplants are also at a higher risk of shingles because of lower immunity.

Patients who are on certain drugs called the ‘immunomodulators’ (used for conditions like arthritis, lupus, and some skin diseases) that reduce immunity are also more vulnerable to shingles.

How Do Vaccinations prevent Shingles? When to Get It

While some anti-viral medicines can reduce the intensity of the rash and the pain, these are effective only when given within three days of the first symptom. Despite medications, the outcome is not satisfactory in most patients.

But shingles can be prevented with vaccination.

• Adults 50 and older: The CDC recommends that all healthy adults aged 50 years and older receive two doses of the shingles vaccine. The second dose is typically given 2 to 6 months after the first.

• Adults 19 and older with weakened immune systems: If you are 19 or older and have a compromised immune system due to disease (like cancer or HIV) or treatments (like chemotherapy or immunosuppressive drugs). The second dose can be given 1 to 2 months after the first.

A now-viral video has revealed how a new mother who believed she had grown excessive fat tissue instead discovered that her body had developed a third nipple under her armpit.

Jasmine, an American woman had given birth five days earlier when a lactation consultant visited her to giver her advice on breastfeeding. The new mother, who was still exhausted and recovering from childbirth, recalled mentioning that her armpits always carried what she believed was excess fat that darkened during pregnancy.

"I breastfed my first baby for one-and-a-half-years, so I'm thinking that there's nothing this nurse can say that's going to surprise me," Jasmine said.

However, after a careful examination, the expert told her that the swelling in her underarm was extra breast tissue and that she also had "a nipple” there.

"When you're pregnant, your nipples and areolas will get really dark, and I have noticed the same change with my armpits, so I was like 'Great! extra breast tissue, I already knew that.' And then the lactation consultant is like 'Let me see,' and I show her, and she goes, 'Oh! yeah... And that's a nipple'.

"You know how cows and puppies and kittens, they have that line of nipples? Yeah, humans have that, too. Tell me why she's telling me about someone that had an extra nipple on her thigh. Telling me I have a third nipple in my armpit before I even had my first postpartum poop is diabolical work,” she said, joking about how little sleep she’d had.

What Do Experts Say?

• Polythelia: The third nipple is present by itself with no areola (the area of darker skin around your nipple) or underlying breast tissue. This is the most common type of supernumerary nipple.
• Polythelia areolaris: The have an areola present, but no nipple or breast tissue.
• Polythelia pilosa: The have a patch of hair only.
• Polymastia: The third nipple has an areola and has some underlying breast tissue.
• Supernumerary nipple: There is a third nipple that has breast tissue underneath it, but it doesn’t have an areola.
• Supernumerary nipple: There is some breast tissue and an areola, but no nipple is present.
• Aberrant glandular tissue: You have breast tissue, but no nipple or areola is present.
• Pseudomamma: Your third nipple has an areola around it, but instead of breast tissue, you have fatty tissue beneath

According to Dr Rooma Sinha, an obstetrician and gynaecologist at Apollo Hospitals in Hyderabad, Jasmine's third nipple is known as the axillary tail of the breast, a normal extension of breast glandular tissue that tapers into the underarm.

“Some women have axillary tail of the breast. This is probably that. It may produce milk if it has active mammary glands," she told Moneycontrol .

She also confirmed that humans can have supernumerary nipples along what is known as the “embryonic milk line,” extending from the armpit toward the chest. However, this line does not extend down to the thigh, as Jasmine recalled in her video.

According to experts, the axillary tail can feel like a lump or thickened area, particularly during hormonal changes such as pregnancy, breastfeeding or menstruation and may become tender or enlarged.

What Happened Next?

“Regular breast production is sufficient for me,” she said, noting that the extra tissue was painful and that she might consider surgically removing the tissue after she decides not to have more children.