Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs)—diseases related to the heart and blood vessels—are the number one cause of death in the world. In India, CVDs account for close to 25% of the total deaths—higher than tuberculosis and respiratory diseases combined, which are second and the third cause of death.

A new study conducted by Pallavi Sinha and group from Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University and Boston Medical Centre has concluded that behavioral factors, like alcohol consumption and smoking, and clinical factors, like previous anti tubercular treatment, increases the risk of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB).

Recent study shows that chronic illnesses might be shared with the members of a household. A team of public health professionals from from various universities in India and the USA have studied 2,574 households during 2013 and 2014, to understand the prevalence and stage of diagnosis of five chronic diseases.