Timothy had always been health-conscious. After years of social drinking, she decided to quit alcohol for good. But giving up the ritual of sipping on a drink at social gatherings felt impossible. That's when alcohol-free beer and wine seemed like the perfect alternative—offering the taste and experience without the intoxication. However, what Sarah didn't realize was that these supposedly "harmless" drinks might still be affecting her liver in ways she hadn't anticipated.

With a global shift toward healthier choices, the rise of alcohol-free beverages has been fuelled. Do these drinks, however, live up to their promise of being risk-free? New research shows that while they may eliminate the dangers of intoxication, they still pose metabolic and liver-related risks, which calls for moderation in the long run.

What Happens in your Body within 10 Minutes of Drinking Alcohol-Free Beverages?

The first time you take a sip of an alcohol-free beverage, your body responds almost instantly. Anshul Singh, Lead Clinical Nutritionist and Dietetics Department says, "In as little as 10 minutes, your taste buds have picked up on the flavors, and your brain might even get a placebo effect, giving you the sensation that you're about to be drunk. Some alcohol-free drinks have up to 0.5% ABV, which goes into the bloodstream in minute quantities but will probably not affect you in any significant way."

By the 30-minute mark, your body has metabolized the sugars, artificial sweeteners, or additives in the drink. "Some people may experience a mild insulin spike, which can cause temporary energy boosts. Some non-alcoholic drinks also contain fermentation byproducts or botanical extracts that mimic the sedative effects of alcohol, causing slight drowsiness or relaxation," adds Anshul.

After 60 minutes, most of the drink has been metabolized. Although there is no risk of intoxication, repeated consumption can subtly affect metabolism, gut health, and even trigger cravings for alcohol among those in recovery. Those sensitive to sugar, caffeine, or preservatives might experience even more pronounced effects over time.

How Alcohol-Free Drinks Affect Your Gut and Liver Connection

Your liver and gut health are connected, forming what is called the gut-liver axis. Anshul emphasises, "Even though drinks without alcohol seem harmless, they usually contain sugars, artificial sweeteners, and fermentation byproducts that can disturb this delicate balance."

• High sugar content may lead to insulin resistance, inflammation, and fat accumulation in the liver.
• Artificial sweeteners may change the gut microbiota, causing metabolic imbalances.
• Preservatives and artificial flavors can also enhance gut permeability, thus potentially leading to leaky gut syndrome.

Long-term consumption of these drinks may gradually affect digestion, liver detoxification, and overall metabolic health, making moderation necessary.

Do Alcohol-Free Drinks Still Trigger Liver Enzymes?

Even though these nonalcoholic beverages contain virtually insignificant alcohol, the liver processes them as well. "These small concentrations of alcohol-which may go as high as 0.5% ABV-trigger the liver's detoxification pathways but only at much weaker intensities compared to ordinary alcoholic drinks. But the added sugars, artificial sweeteners, and preservatives in the products could pose significant pressure on liver functions over the long term," explains Anshul.

High sugar intake causes insulin resistance, which can lead to the buildup of fat in the liver and increase the risk of developing NAFLD. Some fermentation byproducts in these beverages also trigger oxidative stress, which puts extra pressure on the liver. Though occasional consumption will not pose a significant threat, regular consumption might lead to chronic liver stress and metabolic imbalance.

Do Non-Alcoholic Beverages Affect Liver Detoxification?

Although trace amounts of alcohol exist in alcohol-free beer and wine, the body will still have to metabolize them. The body employs the same enzymatic pathways used for alcoholic beverages but at a much lower intensity. However, the added sugars, preservatives, and fermentation byproducts present their own set of challenges:

• Mild inflammation to the liver due to the additives and byproducts within the drinks.
• Insulin resistance resulting from excessive sugar intake, causing fat accumulation in the liver.
• Detoxification pathways are overburdened, and impairment of liver function occurs gradually.

Alcohol-free drinks do not cause the liver to become overwhelmed as traditional alcohol does, although it does have a lower, but still important, risk for someone who is drinking too much. For someone with a problem of liver disease or metabolic syndrome, limiting alcohol-free drinks is also important.

Should You Drink Alcohol-Free Beverages?

Alcoholic beverages have always been a dangerous drink, but the safer option for those who want to avoid intoxication. However, it is not totally risk-free. Its impact on metabolism, gut health, and liver function cannot be ignored. Although they are not harmful at first, their consumption over a long period leads to insulin resistance, liver stress, and imbalance in the gut.

For the consumers who love these drinks, moderation is the way forward. The expert shares, "The choice of brands with the least additives, lower sugar, and natural ingredients will reduce risks. In addition, supplementing with a diet that is rich in antioxidants, fiber, and hydration can complement the liver in general."

For most, thought that adopting alcohol-free beverages was a healthier decision. On discovering their side effects on liver health, though, she learned to limit its intake and settle for alternatives that included infused sparkling water, herbal teas, or even kombucha with controlled sugar levels.

The bottom line? Alcohol-free doesn't mean consequence-free. The best way to achieve long-term health is by paying attention to what goes into the body and yet still enjoy social rituals of preference.

Anshul Singh is the Team Lead with the Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics Department at Artemis Hospitals in India.

In 2025, thanks to climate change, rapid urbanization, and frequent travels, new viruses, their strains, and infections have spread frequently. Infections have affect millions and some diseases have come back with their new strains, which have been more contagious, whereas other diseases are finding new ways to emerge.

As we look back at the year, which is about to end in just another month, let us look back at the top 5 infectious diseases of 2025.

Respiratory Infections

In 2025, respiratory infections were the most widespread, with new COVID-19 variants emerging every now and then. Along with this common flu too has emerged. This has weakened immunity and made elderly and infants, and people with comorbidities more vulnerable to the diseases.

The new COVID variants in India are linked with the JN.1 variant and its sub-variants like LF.7 and NB.1.8. The COVID variants in the UK which were active were XFG, NB.1.8.1, or known as the Stratus and Nimbus variants. Other variants were XFG.3, XFG.5, and XFG.3.4.1.

Tuberculosis (TB)

Tuberculosis still continues to be a major infectious disease in 2025, especially in countries like India. As per the World Health Organization (WHO), tuberculosis caused 1.25 billion deaths in 2023. It becomes the world's leading infectious disease after COVID-19.

Each day, close to 3,425 people lose their lives to TB, and close to 30,000 people fall ill with this preventable and curable disease. About 10.8 million people got TB in 2023, which include 6 million, 3.6 million women, and 1.3 million children.

Dengue and other mosquito-borne infections

Mosquito-borne diseases like dengue, chikungunya, malaria, and Zika continued to rise in 2025. The reason being changing weather patterns. Dr Sanjeev Bagai, Chairman of Nephron Clinic, and Senior Consultant Pediatrician and Nephrologist points out that earlier the mosquito-borne diseases were seasonal, however, due to rapid urbanization and climate changes, these diseases have stayed all round the year.

Hepatitis Infections

Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C are among the most common Hepatitis infections in 2025. However, there have been outbreaks of Hepatitis A and E in unsafe water and food. Chronic hepatitis can also damage liver and also lead to cancer. It is a concern because it spreads through contaminated food, unsafe water, blood, and sexual contact. While many people may not show symptoms until serious liver damage occurs.

Symptoms also include jaundice, dark urine, fatigue, nausea, and abdominal pain.

Gastrointestinal Infections

Food- and water-borne infections are still common across the world. Illnesses like salmonella, cholera, rotavirus, and norovirus often spread in areas where hygiene, sanitation, and food safety are poorly maintained.

Why are these infections risky?

They can spread extremely fast, especially among children and older adults. Severe diarrhea and vomiting can lead to dangerous dehydration if not treated in time.

What symptoms should you look out for?

Persistent diarrhea, vomiting, stomach cramps, fever, and signs of dehydration. The best prevention is simple: drink clean water, wash hands regularly, and eat properly cooked food.

When we think about cancer risk, it’s natural to wonder, “is it genetic?”

The truth is, sometimes it is, but in many cases, cancer develops from a mix of lifestyle, environmental factors, and DNA changes that occur over a lifetime. Understanding the difference between inherited genetic risks and those acquired along the way can help people make smarter decisions about screening, prevention, and treatment, and empower families to take proactive steps for their health.

Inherited genes or life choices?

Cancer arises from a series of changes/mutations in cells that disrupt normal growth control. Many of these changes happen over a person’s lifetime, influenced by exposures (like tobacco, UV rays, infections), aging, and random DNA errors. These are called “somatic mutations” and occur in our tissues—they are not inherited, and are not passed to children.

By contrast, a smaller fraction of cancers are influenced by inherited mutations called “germline mutations”; these are changes in the DNA that you are born with, and are present in every cell of your body. These mutations can predispose someone to cancer by impairing DNA repair, controlling cell division, or through other mechanisms. Approximately 5–10% of all cancers are thought to have a strong hereditary component.

So, while your DNA can influence your cancer risk, most cancers don’t occur because of an inherited gene defect. And even when a germline mutation is present, environment, lifestyle, and chance usually play significant roles in whether cancer actually develops.

Recognizing hereditary cancer syndromes

When should we suspect hereditary cancers? Here are red flags:

A strong family history of cancer, especially the same type (e.g. multiple members with breast cancer, or several relatives with colon cancer).

• Early-onset cancer, e.g. diagnosis before the age of 50 or 40 years.
• Multiple primary cancers in the same person (e.g., ovarian + breast).

Rare cancers or specific tumor types tied to known syndromes (e.g. medullary thyroid cancer, male breast cancer, pancreatic cancer in some families).

Known syndrome features, such as colon polyps and colon cancer in Lynch syndrome.

In such cases, genetic testing can identify mutations in genes like BRCA1/2, Lynch syndrome genes (MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2, EPCAM), TP53, PALB2, and others. Identifying carriers has implications for targeted screening (e.g. colonoscopic surveillance or mammography at regular intervals), preventive surgery like mastectomy, and sometimes therapy in case cancer does develop.

How do hereditary mutations lead to cancer?

Imagine your cells are factories, following a strict set of instructions (your DNA). Inherited mutations can mean that a “safety check” is broken from the start. For example:

A mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes weakens the cell’s ability to repair DNA. Over time, unrepaired damage accumulates, raising the risk of developing breast, ovarian, prostate, and pancreatic cancer.

Mutations in DNA mismatch repair genes (as in Lynch syndrome) allow errors during DNA copying to persist, boosting mutation load and increasing the risk of developing colon, endometrium, stomach, and other cancers.

But even when a high-risk mutation is present, cancer doesn’t appear overnight. Additional “hits”, or more mutations, microenvironment changes, hormonal exposures, or lifestyle factors need to typically accumulate before cells turn cancerous.

Why does hereditary information matter?

You might ask: if it’s a small percentage of cancers, does knowing about hereditary risk make a difference?

The answer is, yes, absolutely. Knowing your hereditary risk of cancer has some important benefits:

Prevention & early detection: If you carry a pathogenic mutation, you can undergo more frequent surveillance, chemoprevention (e.g. tamoxifen for breast cancer), or risk-reducing surgeries (e.g. prophylactic mastectomy or oophorectomy).

Therapeutic choices: Certain inherited mutations also influence how cancers respond to therapy. For example, PARP inhibitors are effective in tumors with BRCA-related homologous recombination deficiency (HRD). Thus, knowing that a patient has a germline BRCA mutation may alter drug selection.

Family risk & cascade testing: Identifying a hereditary mutation allows cascade testing, where close relatives can also get genetic testing done. This helps them understand risks and take prevention measures before cancer develops.

Clinical trial access: Many modern trials require knowledge of inherited DNA defects. Patients with known germline mutations may qualify for therapies designed precisely for those DNA repair vulnerabilities.

However, it is also important to understand that absence of a germline mutation does not mean absence of risk. Many cancers are driven purely by somatic mutations, and many hereditary variants remain undiscovered or classified as Variants of Uncertain Significance (VUS). Testing negative for known genes does not guarantee immunity.

Also, hereditary risk is not absolute: a person may carry a mutation but never develop cancer, due to protective factors like healthy lifestyle, background genetics, or luck. Interpretation must be done thoughtfully, ideally with genetic counselling.

Conclusion

While hereditary mutations play a role in a minority of cases, their impact on prevention, therapy, and family planning can be profound. Knowing whether cancer “came from your DNA” is often less important than using that knowledge wisely—both for patients and their relatives.

As we move deeper into the era of precision medicine, clinicians and patients alike should appreciate that hereditary and somatic worlds coexist, and that DNA insight is a tool—not a verdict.

In a medical first, surgeons in China have successfully transplanted a gene-edited pig liver into a living human to temporarily support his failing liver. The procedure showed that a pig liver can function inside the human body for several weeks and act as a “bridge” for patients who have no other treatment options.

The patient was a 71-year-old man with severe hepatitis B–related liver cirrhosis and a large liver cancer tumor. His condition made traditional surgery or a human liver transplant impossible. With no donor organs available and his health rapidly worsening, doctors decided to try the experimental pig liver transplant under compassionate use.

How the Pig Liver Was Engineered

The donor organ came from a specially bred Diannan miniature pig. Scientists had made 10 specific genetic changes to the animal so its liver would be more compatible with the human body.

These changes included:

• Removing pig genes that usually trigger strong immune rejection
• Adding seven human genes to help the liver work smoothly with human blood, immunity and clotting systems

Once the liver was connected to the patient’s blood supply, it began working immediately. It produced bile, supported metabolism, made important proteins like albumin and helped with blood clotting. Early tests showed stable liver and kidney function, and there were no signs of sudden or severe rejection, which is usually the biggest challenge in pig-to-human organ transplants.

A Serious Complication Emerges

But the case also revealed a major challenge for future xenotransplants. After about a month, the patient developed a condition called xenotransplantation-associated thrombotic microangiopathy (xTMA).

This complication caused:

• Breakdown of red blood cells
• A drop in platelets
• Activation of the complement system (part of the immune response)
• Small blood clots forming in blood vessels

Doctors tried multiple treatments, including blood thinners, a complement-blocking drug (eculizumab) and plasma exchange. However, the condition continued to worsen.

On day 38, the medical team decided to remove the pig liver to protect the patient. Fortunately, during this period, the patient’s remaining left portion of his own liver had grown and was able to take over enough liver function. After the pig liver was removed, the signs of xTMA gradually resolved.

The patient later developed complications unrelated to the xenotransplant — mainly repeated bleeding in his digestive tract due to his pre-existing liver condition — and he died on postoperative day 171.

What This Means for the Future

Researchers conclude that this groundbreaking case proves pig-to-human liver transplantation is technically possible and can meaningfully support patients for weeks. This offers hope for people with acute liver failure or advanced liver cancer who have no donor organs available.

However, major barriers remain. The biggest challenges highlighted include:

• xTMA
• Blood clotting incompatibilities
• Overactivation of the immune system
• The need for better gene-editing strategies

Scientists say more work is needed before such transplants can become routine. But this case sets an important foundation for future clinical trials and brings the medical world a step closer to using animal organs to save human lives.