Health

Fertility testing is not something everyone needs every year. Knowing when to get tested can help you make informed decisions about your reproductive health, say Pune-based doctors.   Many people believe that fertility testing should be done every year, just like cardiac, liver, and kidney tests. However, this is a misconception that needs to be debunked right away, says Dr Nisha Pansare, fertility specialist, Nova IVF Fertility in Kharadi, Pune. Unlike routine blood pressure, thyroid or diabetes screening, fertility testing is not recommended every year. The test needs to be done based on the person's age, reproductive plans, medical history, or health conditions that may take a toll on fertility. Fertility tests will vary from one individual to another and shouldn't be missed if advise...

Infertility has quietly become one of the more pressing public health concerns of our time, touching nearly one in six people across the world. However, Mumbai health experts say the role that everyday chemical exposure may be playing in this doesn’t get highlighted as much as it should.  Every year, World IVF Day is observed on July 25 to commemorate the birth of Louise Brown, who is the world's first successful in vitro fertilisation baby, born in 1978. However, it is also used to highlight reproductive challenges including infertility, and city-based fertility specialists highlight how chemicals are one of the reasons for it. What are the chemicals affecting fertility? Dr. Hitesha Ramnani Rohira, Consultant, IVF at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, explains, “Almost everyone today...

Doctors at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital have successfully removed a tooth that had remained lodged in the airway of a 47-year-old man from Panchmahal district for nearly one and a half years, using an advanced bronchoscopic procedure that took just two minutes. The patient, Balvantbhai, was admitted to the hospital's Pulmonary Medicine Department on July 20 after suffering from persistent coughing and severe breathing difficulties for the past month. Medical examination revealed that a tooth had become deeply lodged in one of the branches of his airway. According to the patient, the tooth had fallen out on its own around one and a half years ago and accidentally entered his airway while he was drinking water. The condition remained undetected until his symptoms worsened, prompting him to s...

Pune doctors have given a new lease of life by performing a life-saving right mastectomy on a 27-year-old woman who was 26 weeks pregnant after diagnosing her with high-grade sarcoma of the breast, a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer. The medical team successfully treated the mother while ensuring the safety of her unborn baby without terminating the pregnancy.  The team led by Dr Utkarsh Ajgaonkar, Consultant Surgical Oncologist, Dr. Madhura, Assistant Surgeon and anaesthesia team led by Dr Vishvas Koul, head of Anesthesia & Critical Care, TGH OncoLife Cancer Centre . The woman, Soni Kumari, a 27-year-old tailor from Lonavala, was happily looking forward to welcoming her second child when a frightening health crisis overshadowed her joy. Nearly six months earlier, she had no...

For Dhivaji Dhurat, a 52-year-old resident of Malad, life had slowly begun to shrink. Simple tasks that once seemed effortless walking short distances, climbing a flight of stairs or carrying groceries started triggering chest pain and breathlessness. Having undergone a heart angioplasty 15 years ago, he feared that something was seriously wrong again. The discomfort became more frequent over the weeks, forcing him to seek medical attention and doctors discovered something alarming. The heart stent that had kept one of his coronary arteries open for the last 15 years had become severely blocked once again, a condition known as in-stent restenosis. To make matters more challenging, two additional critical blockages were also detected in his coronary arteries. Treating such a case was far ...

The Ahmedabad Civil Hospital has recorded its 248th organ donation after the family of a 53-year-old brain-dead man from the city's Bapunagar area consented to donate his organs, allowing three patients awaiting transplants to receive life-saving treatment. Virendra Gohadiya suffered a brain stroke caused by high blood pressure on July 13 and was initially admitted to Singarva Government Hospital. He was later shifted to Ahmedabad Civil Hospital for advanced treatment, where doctors treated him in the intensive care unit for three days. Despite medical efforts, he was declared brain-dead on July 16. Following the declaration of brain death, the hospital's organ donation team, led by Dr Abhishek Barot, counselled the family on brain death and the importance of organ donation. In the mid...

Examination stress, excessive screen time, social media pressures, bullying and loneliness are emerging as major challenges for schoolchildren, prompting educationists and mental health experts to call for emotional wellbeing to be integrated into the education system rather than being treated as an occasional awareness exercise. Experts say schools must move beyond measuring success solely through academic performance and instead create environments where students feel safe, supported and emotionally resilient. According to the World Health Organisation, one in seven adolescents aged 10-19 years lives with a mental disorder, with depression, anxiety and behavioural disorders. The UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) and NCERT (National Council of Educational ...

A 38-year-old woman from Mozambique, who had been undergoing treatment for psychiatric symptoms, anxiety, and persistent stomach discomfort—all of which were attributed to a psychological condition gradually lost the ability to walk. She has now made a remarkable recovery after doctors in Mumbai came to her rescue to not only discover the hidden reason but also treat her. Dr Prashant Makhija, who is the consultant neurologist at Wockhardt Hospitals in Mumbai Central, identified a rare neurological disorder caused by severe Vitamin B12 deficiency resulting from autoimmune atrophic gastritis. The young woman had initially developed persistent stomach discomfort along with anxiety and other psychiatric symptoms. As her condition progressed, she began experiencing increasing difficulty in wa...

Monsoon laundry is rarely straightforward. Clothes take longer to dry, balconies become unusable, and indoor drying racks quietly become part of everyday life. In compact apartments especially, hanging wet clothes inside bedrooms, living spaces, or near wardrobes often feels less like a choice and more like a necessity. But according to experts, that convenience may come with an invisible cost. Every load of damp laundry releases moisture into the air. In enclosed spaces with limited ventilation, that moisture can gradually raise indoor humidity, creating conditions that encourage dust mites, mould growth, stale odours, and poor indoor air quality. While the effects may seem minor at first, over time they can contribute to allergies, respiratory irritation, and worsening asthma symptoms. ...

From morning alarms and work emails to online banking, food delivery, streaming platforms, and late-night scrolling, screens have become impossible to separate from modern life. For many people, especially in urban India, the distinction between necessary screen use and excessive screen use has become increasingly difficult to define. Unlike earlier conversations around technology, the concern today is not simply about spending too much time online. It is about what constant digital engagement may be doing to the brain. Medical experts describe a growing phenomenon often referred to as ‘digital fog’, a state of mental cloudiness marked by poor concentration, forgetfulness, slower thinking, reduced attention, and mental fatigue. While digital fog is not a medical diagnosis, experts say it...