We have all been there. You polish off a hearty meal, lean back with satisfaction and then comes that all-too-familiar burn in your stomach. For most people, the quick fix is to blame the food and pop an antacid. But what if that nagging pain is not just about what you ate?

According to Dr Akash Chaudhary, Clinical Director and Sr Consultant Medical Gastroenterology at Care Hospitals, Hyderabad, “That familiar burn after a meal might seem harmless at first. But when it starts showing up regularly, especially during long gaps between meals or waking you up at night, it could be your body signalling something more serious, like a peptic ulcer.”

What Is a Peptic Ulcer?

A peptic ulcer is basically a sore that develops on the inner lining of your stomach or the upper part of your small intestine. These sores form when the protective lining of the stomach wears down. “This kind of damage is often due to an H. pylori infection or the regular use of pain-relief medication like NSAIDs,” Dr Chaudhary explains. Without that protective cushion, the very acid that digests your food ends up irritating and damaging your stomach instead.

Unique Symptoms of Peptic Ulcer You Might Miss

Ulcers do not always announce themselves with big warning signs. Dr Pavan Reddy Thondapu, HOD of Medical Gastroenterology at Arete Hospitals, says that what often begins as “minor digestive discomfort, a burning sensation, early satiety, or bloating after meals can sometimes signal something more serious if ignored.”

Other tell-tale but easily overlooked signs include:

• Upper abdominal pain that keeps coming back, often worse after meals
• Unexpected nausea or changes in appetite
• Feeling unusually full too quickly (early satiety)
• Black, tarry stools or vomiting blood in advanced cases
• Unexplained tiredness, weight loss, or loss of appetite

Most people dismiss these symptoms as routine acidity or indigestion. But as Dr Chaudhary warns, “When the real cause goes unnoticed, ulcers can quietly progress, sometimes leading to bleeding or even a tear in the stomach lining.”

Why Antacids Do Not Always Cut It

Reaching for an antacid may calm the discomfort for a few hours, but it does not solve the underlying issue. “It is not uncommon for patients to self-medicate and ignore early symptoms, but that often delays recovery and increases risk,” Dr Thondapu points out. Antacids mask the pain, but the ulcer continues its work quietly in the background, setting the stage for bigger problems.

When to See a Doctor

The golden rule, if the burning pain keeps returning, especially after meals or early in the morning, is to not wait it out. According to Dr Chaudhary, “If someone experiences persistent burning pain after meals, they shouldn’t delay medical attention. What feels like a routine gastric issue may be a more serious condition silently progressing in the background.”

Red flag symptoms that warrant immediate medical evaluation include:

• Vomiting blood or black stools
• Difficulty swallowing
• Severe, persistent upper abdominal pain
• Unexplained weight loss or fatigue

How Doctors Get to the Bottom of It

Thankfully, diagnosing a peptic ulcer is not as scary as it sounds. “We usually diagnose peptic ulcers through simple procedures like an upper GI endoscopy or a breath test for H. pylori,” says Dr Thondapu. An endoscopy gives a direct look at the stomach lining, while non-invasive tests can quickly confirm an infection.

The Road to Healing

Ulcers are highly treatable once detected. Treatment usually involves:

• Acid-suppressing medications to give the stomach lining a chance to heal
• Antibiotics if H. pylori is detected
• Stopping or adjusting long-term NSAID use
• Simple but powerful lifestyle shifts

Dr Chaudhary emphasises that “with the right medicines and a few mindful shifts in daily eating habits, most people begin to feel better within weeks.”

Important Lifestyle Tweaks

Treatment is not just about pills; how you live day to day plays a big role in preventing recurrence. Dr Thondapu recommends:

• Eating meals on time instead of long gaps or binge-eating sessions
• Cutting back on alcohol and tobacco
• Avoiding overly spicy, oily, or processed foods
• Managing stress through exercise, yoga, or mindfulness

These shifts help protect the stomach lining and keep acid levels in check, making ulcers less likely to return. In a nutshell, stomach pain after meals does not always mean you overdid it on the food. Sometimes it is your body’s way of flagging a deeper issue. As both experts stress, ignoring persistent burning pain or bloating is not worth the risk. Early diagnosis makes ulcers easy to treat, while delay can lead to serious complications.

Antidepressants side effects weight gain: Antidepressants, widely used to manage mental health conditions, can affect weight, heart rate, and blood pressure, though these changes differ depending on the specific drug. Researchers from King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) conducted one of the most extensive reviews to date, comparing the physical effects of 30 antidepressants. The findings, published in The Lancet, draw on data from over 150 clinical trials involving 58,534 participants who took either antidepressants or placebos for eight weeks.

This Common Antidepressant May Quietly Raise Your Blood Pressure

The researchers observed the biggest differences in weight, heart rate, and blood pressure among those taking antidepressants. They said the results, published in The Lancet, are meant to help patients make informed decisions but advised anyone with concerns to consult their doctor.

Researchers examined how these medications affected patients during the first eight weeks of treatment. Some antidepressants led to weight gains of up to 2 kilograms, while others caused changes in heart rate of as much as 21 beats per minute.

What Is Sertraline?

Sertraline, sold under the brand name Zoloft, is a prescription antidepressant medication that belongs to the class of drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). It works by increasing the levels of serotonin, a natural chemical in the brain that helps regulate mood.

Between 2024 and 2025, about 92.6 million antidepressant prescriptions were issued to roughly 8.89 million people in England, according to data from the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). Among them, sertraline, taken by an estimated 2.9 million patients, was associated with slight weight loss, averaging about 0.76 kilograms, and a small drop in heart rate. However, it also showed a modest rise in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

Sertraline Leads To Increased Blood pressure

An increase in blood pressure can raise the risk of stroke, the researchers noted. However, they also pointed out that the study’s main limitation was its short duration, as it only examined the first eight weeks of treatment. They said more research is needed to understand the longer-term effects of these medications.

Dr. Toby Pillinger, lead researcher and consultant psychiatrist at King’s College London, stressed that the findings are not intended to discourage antidepressant use. Instead, they aim to promote personalised treatment and encourage shared decision-making between doctors and patients, empowering individuals to make more informed choices about their care.

Which Antidepressant Should I Opt For?

The most commonly prescribed antidepressants—SSRIs like paroxetine, citalopram, escitalopram, and sertraline, generally showed fewer physical side effects. Professor Andrea Cipriani from the University of Oxford said it is “impossible” to determine how many of the millions taking antidepressants might benefit from a different medication.

He noted that a focus on “generic, cheap medications” has led to 85% of antidepressant prescriptions in the UK being for just three SSRIs: citalopram, sertraline, and fluoxetine.

According to Cipriani, applying the findings from this study could drastically reduce that 85% figure, allowing more patients to access treatments better suited to their needs.

The research team is also developing a free online tool to help doctors and patients make more informed choices about which antidepressant to use.

An average person takes about 22,000 breaths a day, most of them without any conscious effort. Yet research shows that spending just a few minutes on slow, deliberate breathing can help bring blood pressure down, sometimes lowering the top number, or systolic pressure, by as much as 10 points.

Every night before sleep, you might pause, take a deep breath, and feel your body unwind. But can this calming ritual really lower your blood pressure overnight? Social media posts and wellness videos claim it can. We looked into what science and doctors say about this widely shared belief.

What the Claim Says

The idea is simple: if you practise deep, rhythmic breathing before bed—say inhaling for four seconds, holding for four, and exhaling for eight—you’ll wake up with a lower blood pressure reading the next morning. It sounds effortless, but does the body really respond that fast?

What Research Actually Shows

There is solid evidence that slow, deep breathing can help lower blood pressure, though not necessarily overnight. A review published in the Journal of Human Hypertension found that practising slow breathing for just a few minutes daily lowered both systolic and diastolic pressure by an average of 3 to 6 mmHg over time.

Harvard Health Publishing also notes that deep breathing helps by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, which relaxes blood vessels and slows the heart rate, creating a measurable drop in pressure with regular use. In another 2024 clinical study published on PubMed Central (PMC), people who used the 4-4-8 breathing technique for 10 minutes saw their systolic blood pressure fall by about 5.8 mmHg after 30 minutes.

These numbers are modest but meaningful for heart health. Still, most of these effects appeared after consistent practice over days or weeks, not a single night.

The Missing Evidence for the ‘Overnight’ Effect

The viral claim exaggerates the timeline. Few, if any, studies have examined whether one bedtime session of deep breathing can make a measurable difference by the next morning. Blood pressure naturally fluctuates during sleep, so any temporary dip caused by relaxation is likely to even out by morning.

According to cardiologists, the effect is more about long-term nervous system conditioning than an instant fix. The relaxation you feel is real, but its impact on numbers is subtle and cumulative.

Experts still encourage adding deep breathing to your bedtime routine for its calming and sleep benefits. Try this:

• Sit or lie down comfortably.
• Inhale through your nose for 4 seconds.
• Hold your breath for 2–3 seconds.
• Exhale gently through your mouth for 6–8 seconds.
• Continue for about 5 minutes.

Practising this nightly for 4–6 weeks can help reduce stress and may gradually lower blood pressure. Keep a log of your readings to notice any steady improvement.

Deep breathing is a simple, accessible way to support heart health, but it’s not a quick overnight fix. The science supports its long-term benefits, not the viral promise of an immediate drop after one bedtime session.

So while your nightly breathing habit won’t transform your blood pressure overnight, it may still be one of the gentlest ways to calm both body and mind, if you make it part of your everyday rhythm.

‘Hearing voices’ or ‘Auditory hallucinations’ is always seen as a sign of someone without a ‘healthy’ or ‘sound’ mind. Yet, many misunderstand what these experiences truly represent. Auditory hallucinations are basically hearing a sound that isn’t there. According to the Schizophrenia Research journal, about 60-80% of people who are on the schizophrenia spectrum experience these. However, do you know where these ‘voices’ come from?

A major new study published in the journal Schizophrenia Bulletin gives the strongest proof yet that when people with schizophrenia hear voices, they are actually mistaking their own silent thoughts for sounds coming from outside. Their brains respond more strongly when their inner voice aligns with an outside sound. Individuals with schizophrenia who recently experienced auditory hallucinations had a much bigger brain reaction when their inner voice matched an outside sound.

What Causes Verbal Hallucinations?

The study, which was done by psychologists at UNSW Sydney, suggests that the problem of hearing voices, called auditory verbal hallucinations, happens because the brain has trouble figuring out that the silent voice inside their head belongs to them.

What is Inner Speech?

Inner speech is just the silent voice that goes on in your head, like a narrator for your thoughts, plans, and everything you notice. Most people have this running all the time.

The Normal Brain Filter

When a person speaks, even if they only speak silently in their mind, the part of the brain that deals with outside noises calms down. This happens because the brain expects the sound of your own voice and basically tunes it out so you aren't distracted by yourself.

But in people who hear voices, this "filtering" process seems broken. The brain doesn't manage to predict the sound of its own inner voice, which causes it to react as if the voice is coming from someone else entirely.

How Did Researchers Measure Inner Voice?

For a long time, doctors have had a theory that hearing voices came from mixing up inner speech with external speech, but it was incredibly hard to test because you can't actually hear someone else's inner speech. It's totally private. Researchers used an EEG machine (which records the brain's tiny electrical signals) to secretly test this idea. They divided the people into three groups:

• People with schizophrenia who had very recently heard voices.
• People with schizophrenia who had not heard voices recently.
• Healthy people who did not have schizophrenia.

In the experiment, everyone wore headphones and was told to imagine saying a simple sound (like 'bah' or 'bih') at the exact moment they heard one of those sounds played through the headphones.

People with No Hallucinations

In healthy people, when the sound they imagined in their head matched the sound that came through the headphones, the EEG showed less activity in the part of the brain that processes sound. This is the expected filtering effect—the brain recognized its own inner speech and calmed its response.

Hallucination Result (The Reversal)

In the group that had recently heard voices, the results were the complete opposite. When the imagined inner speech matched the external sound, their brains showed a much stronger, enhanced reaction.

This backward filtering effect strongly suggests that the brain's ability to predict and filter its own thoughts is broken in people who hear voices. This failure causes the brain to see that inner voice as a loud, real sound coming from the outside.

How Does Learning About Auditory Hallucinations Help Us?

This discovery is very important because it offers the strongest proof yet for the idea that people's own inner speech is being mistakenly heard as an outside voice.

Right now, there are no simple blood tests, X-rays, or brain scans that can definitively find or diagnose schizophrenia. These new findings give doctors hope for developing biological markers (signs in the body) that could help find or predict who is at risk of developing psychosis before it actually starts.