Professor,Dept of Neurosciences and Behavioral Medicine, University of Santo Tomas, President, Philippine Society of Hypertension 2025-2027
Manila,Philippines
Joined August 2010
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Prof Alejandro Bimbo Diaz,MD retweeted
Researchers have developed an AI-based approach to help physicians with real-life clinical workups, starting with the patient’s chief complaint, systematically asking questions and deciding what laboratory and imaging tests to order, and then continuing the evaluation on the basis of the answers received.
Learn more this week in Science: scim.ag/3U8xn94
ALT This image depicts a patient and a physician working together with artificial intelligence (AI) to reach a diagnosis.
Prof Alejandro Bimbo Diaz,MD retweeted
🧵 #STROKE Highlights for October are here:
🌟 In mice with intracerebral hemorrhage, oral cilostazol enhanced dural lymphatic drainage, reduced hematoma volume, and improved neurological recovery. @LD_McCullough
ALT October 2026 Stroke cover
Prof Alejandro Bimbo Diaz,MD retweeted
#FlashbackFriday !
🧠🫀In acute ICH, ~20% systolic blood pressure reduction in the first hour and ~30% by 24h (tailored to baseline) were linked to best outcomes
👉Larger reductions may diminish benefit and warrant caution
Read more here👇
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs…
Prof Alejandro Bimbo Diaz,MD retweeted
I really admire figures that can describe a concept better than long manuscripts.
This image is from an excellent paper in Nature by Vivek Subbiah about the future of evidence-based medicine and the design of clinical trials, all inspired by the rise of artificial intelligence.
This is the era of the next generation of 'deep' medicine.
"Current paradigms must be continuously challenged by emerging technology and by all stakeholders (the new generations of scientists, physicians, the pharma industry, regulatory authorities and, most importantly, patients). Disruptive innovation should lead to every clinical site being a research site, with all necessary quality checks and research as part of the standard of care.
My personal view is that every major disease needs a ‘Moonshot’ program and every rare disease should have an ‘Operation Warp Speed’—both with clearly identified, sustainable goals to improve population health and address equity, diversity and global access to therapies.
Methodological advances and future AI-based analyses of all data will provide deep evidence to realize the goal of personalized medicine— that is, to offer the right treatment to the right patient at the right time."
The paper: nature.com/articles/s41591-0…
Prof Alejandro Bimbo Diaz,MD retweeted
Does stroke recovery have a time limit? 🧠Research presented at #ESOC2026 suggests intensive, personalised rehabilitation may improve independence even long after stroke.
👉 Explore our latest #StrokeInsights resource to discover the findings.
ow.ly/1uzk50ZYoC5
#Stroke
Prof Alejandro Bimbo Diaz,MD retweeted
Nearly half of the individuals who were drinking when they started using GLP-1 receptor agonists (RAs) reported drinking less within 3 months, with higher odds among those who screened positive for potentially unhealthy past-year alcohol use, US survey data showed. mdsc.pe/4zIfUTM
Prof Alejandro Bimbo Diaz,MD retweeted
🧵 Guidelines in Action: #STROKE rehabilitation 🚶
Stroke survivors' needs evolve over time. Continuous reassessment, coordinated rehabilitation & seamless transitions across care settings are essential to optimize recovery and support successful reintegration into the community.
ALT Figure. The path from acute stroke through rehabilitation and recovery.
Prof Alejandro Bimbo Diaz,MD retweeted
Berberine lowers LDL cholesterol in randomized trials. I'm interested in how that connects to ApoB, artery plaque, and the gut microbiome.
A meta-analysis pooling 14 placebo-controlled trials found an average LDL reduction of approximately 18 mg/dL.
Recent randomized-trial evidence also found reductions in ApoB, which estimates the number of circulating particles that can contribute to atherosclerosis.
Early clinical evidence also suggests berberine can reduce plaque in the arteries. And at least one of those studies also found a modest reduction in TMAO, a metabolite linked to gut microbial metabolism and implicated in atherosclerosis.
One interesting detail from the newer research: ApoB decreased in both men and women, with a larger response in women.
In a new placebo-controlled trial in women, berberine lowered ApoB by about 13 mg/dL relative to placebo. Researchers compared those results with an earlier trial in men and found evidence suggesting women had a stronger lipid response.
What is interesting is that this may just be a dose-dependent effect. In a separate study, women had almost three times the blood exposure to berberine after the same dose.
Together, these findings make berberine a promising compound for cardiovascular health, with potential benefits spanning lipid metabolism, artery health, and the gut microbiome.
Prof Alejandro Bimbo Diaz,MD retweeted
New in #EJPC: Beyond one-size-fits-all cardiovascular prevention.
A new review explores pathway-guided, patient-centered strategies targeting lipids, inflammation, thrombosis, and endothelial dysfunction to address residual risk and personalize treatment.
🔗 ow.ly/G7OB50ZYKf6
Prof Alejandro Bimbo Diaz,MD retweeted
And here's another meta-analysis yet again showing benefit (mRS 0-2) when giving TPA/TNK in the 4.5-24 hour window based on penumbral imaging.
When is this going to become mainstream?
Thrombolysis in the Delayed Treatment Window for Acute Ischemic Stroke: Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis | @StrokeAHA_ASA
ahajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1…
I see these situations all the time..patients seeking a second opinion, they are appreciative of my detailed history taking by letting the patient tell me their story and I’ll be more confident in giving them the likely correct diagnosis.
Your doctor cuts you off about 11 seconds after you start talking. Researchers literally timed it in a 2018 study. That number is why Google's new Lancet result is bigger than it looks.
In the study, 98 real urgent care patients texted with Google's AI days before their appointment. No scans, no exam, no bloodwork, just an unhurried conversation about what was wrong. That alone put the correct final diagnosis on the AI's list 90% of the time.
Sounds like magic until you learn what medicine has known for 50 years.
Back in 1975, a British team published a study in the BMJ tracking which part of a visit actually produced the right diagnosis. The physical exam? The labs? Nope. In 82% of cases, the patient's story alone got the doctor there. Everything else mostly confirmed what listening had already found.
So the playbook for accurate diagnosis has existed since 1975. Let the patient talk. Medicine just built a system where nobody has time to run it, and an 18-minute appointment with 11 seconds of uninterrupted patient talk was the result.
Google didn't build a superhuman doctor. It built the first clinician in 50 years with enough time to use the method we already proved works.
And my favorite detail buried in the study... physicians who read the AI's pre-visit summary said it changed how they treated the patient in over half of cases. Hand a doctor the full story before you walk in the room and you get different medicine.
Turns out the most advanced medical instrument Google ever shipped is a conversation that doesn't get interrupted.
Prof Alejandro Bimbo Diaz,MD retweeted
Your doctor cuts you off about 11 seconds after you start talking. Researchers literally timed it in a 2018 study. That number is why Google's new Lancet result is bigger than it looks.
In the study, 98 real urgent care patients texted with Google's AI days before their appointment. No scans, no exam, no bloodwork, just an unhurried conversation about what was wrong. That alone put the correct final diagnosis on the AI's list 90% of the time.
Sounds like magic until you learn what medicine has known for 50 years.
Back in 1975, a British team published a study in the BMJ tracking which part of a visit actually produced the right diagnosis. The physical exam? The labs? Nope. In 82% of cases, the patient's story alone got the doctor there. Everything else mostly confirmed what listening had already found.
So the playbook for accurate diagnosis has existed since 1975. Let the patient talk. Medicine just built a system where nobody has time to run it, and an 18-minute appointment with 11 seconds of uninterrupted patient talk was the result.
Google didn't build a superhuman doctor. It built the first clinician in 50 years with enough time to use the method we already proved works.
And my favorite detail buried in the study... physicians who read the AI's pre-visit summary said it changed how they treated the patient in over half of cases. Hand a doctor the full story before you walk in the room and you get different medicine.
Turns out the most advanced medical instrument Google ever shipped is a conversation that doesn't get interrupted.
Today @TheLancet published our AMIE study with @BIDMC_Medicine, the first prospective study of patient-facing conversational diagnostics in a real clinic.
AMIE is a research system people can chat with before doctors appointments. Testing AMIE outside the lab with real urgent care patients showed how technology can help gather medical histories safely. Clinicians reported that the summaries helped them prepare for visits in 75% of cases and influenced their approach to care in more than half. AMIE’s differential diagnoses also matched the doctors’ final diagnoses 90% of the time giving clinicians more time to focus on patient care.
It’s Google’s first-ever paper in The Lancet’s main journal!
Viatris Drives Regional Dialogue To Advance Cardiovascular Care Across Southeast Asia pageone.ph/viatris-drives-re… via @PAGEONE
Prof Alejandro Bimbo Diaz,MD retweeted
In older adults without cardiovascular disease, treatment with atorvastatin led to a lower risk of major cardiovascular events than placebo at a median of 5.9 years but did not result in longer disability-free survival. Full STAREE trial results and Research Summary: nej.md/4ghHPSC
#ESCCongress
Prof Alejandro Bimbo Diaz,MD retweeted
🧠High-dose, high-intensity rehabilitation (HDHI) after stroke can improve recovery, but uptake remains limited
🤝📑This expert consensus identifies four key barriers and actionable solutions for implementation
Read them here!👇
journals.sagepub.com/doi/ful…
Prof Alejandro Bimbo Diaz,MD retweeted
New Review: Tomás S. Huerta, @KevinJTraceyMD, Isaac M. Chiu & @changsbrain review the organization & function of vagal neuroimmune circuits, from afferent cytokine sensing to organ-specific efferent immune control. hubs.la/Q04ykWBh0
#BioelectronicMedicine #Neuroimmunology
Prof Alejandro Bimbo Diaz,MD retweeted
Original Article: Atorvastatin, Cardiovascular Events, and Disability-free Survival in Older Adults (STAREE trial) nej.md/4ghHPSC
Editorial: Statins in Older Adults — Evidence at Last nej.md/4ynHp57
#Cardiology #ESCCongress
ALT This image is two panels showing major cardiovascular events and disability-free survival according to trial group. Panel A shows the cumulative incidence of major cardiovascular events. The graphs on the left show the cumulative incidence of primary end-point events (death from cardiovascular causes, nonfatal myocardial infarction or stroke, or coronary revascularization, whichever occurred first), and those on the right the cumulative incidence of composite secondary end-point events (death from cardiovascular causes, myocardial infarction, or stroke, whichever occurred first). Panel B shows the cumulative incidence of death from any cause, dementia, or persistent physical disability, whichever occurred first, as a measure of disability-free survival. Insets show the same data on an expanded y axis.
Prof Alejandro Bimbo Diaz,MD retweeted
Having a reason to get up in the morning cuts your risk of dying by more than half. A 2019 JAMA study of nearly 7,000 adults found that people with the strongest sense of purpose had the lowest mortality, and the effect was independent of wealth, health, exercise, and depression.
Purpose does not mean ambition. It means feeling that your daily actions matter to something beyond yourself. A grandparent raising a garden. A retired teacher who tutors. A caregiver who shows up every morning. The research does not measure achievement. It measures the feeling that what you do connects to something.
The biological pathway runs through every system the body uses to stay alive. People with a sense of purpose sleep better, have lower inflammatory markers, take their medications, show up for screenings, and maintain social ties. Each of those individually lowers mortality. Together, they compound into a survival advantage that is larger than the sum of its parts.
The opposite is also in the data. People who lose purpose, through retirement without a replacement, the death of a spouse, or the end of a career they defined themselves by, show a rapid decline in health that cannot be explained by aging alone. The body seems to treat purposelessness as a signal that the organism is no longer needed.
Nobody writes "sense of purpose" on a prescription pad. The research says it belongs there. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3112…
