Health

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...

A study by doctors at Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Medical College has found that a simple scoring system can help quickly identify serious health risks in premature and low-weight newborns and improve their chances of survival. The study, conducted on 181 premature babies at JK Lone Hospital in Jaipur, has highlighted the usefulness of the CRIB-II (Clinical Risk Index for Babies-II) score to assess the condition of newborns soon after admission. The findings have been published in the International Journal of Paediatric Research. Dr Yogesh Yadav, a paediatric specialist and one of the researchers, said early assessment using this score can guide treatment decisions. "If we calculate the CRIB-II score at the time of admission, we can understand the seriousness of the baby's condition. This he...

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. ...

Doctors at a Delhi hospital have successfully performed a complex surgery to repair a life-threatening congenital oesophageal defect in a premature newborn weighing just 1.4 kg, one of a pair of twins. The baby, born at 34 weeks of gestation, was diagnosed with Type C tracheo-oesophageal fistula (TEF) with oesophageal atresia, a rare congenital condition in which the upper part of the oesophagus ends in a blind pouch while the lower segment is abnormally connected to the trachea, doctors at Yashoda Super Speciality Hospital, Kaushambi, said. Soon after birth, the newborn developed frothing at the mouth, excessive secretions and respiratory distress. The diagnosis was confirmed through an X-ray, which showed the feeding tube coiling in the upper oesophagus. The two-hour surgery was perfo...

For years, an 18-year-old girl from Sreerampore, Hooghly, lived behind a mask, avoiding social interactions and struggling with everyday activities like eating and speaking due to a rare vascular malformation that had gradually engulfed almost her entire lower lip. It began as a small lesion eventually grew into a massive 7 cm × 7 cm blood vessel tumour, making it impossible for her to close her mouth properly, causing constant drooling and severely affecting her confidence and quality of life.  In a highly complex reconstructive surgery, Dr. Akhilesh Kumar Agarwal, Consultant – Plastic Surgeon at Manipal Hospital Mukundapur, successfully removed the tumour and reconstructed her lower lip, restoring both its appearance and function, enabling the young girl to smile, eat, and step out with...

A 52-year-old woman's worsening breathlessness turned out to be a complex and potentially life-threatening heart condition but doctors in Thane gave her a new lease of life in time. Her condition meant a failing artificial valve, a large clot inside the heart, severe pulmonary hypertension, and disease affecting multiple heart valves.  She was successfully treated through a rare and highly complex cardiac operation known as the Commando procedure, helping her regain her quality of life. The woman had undergone mitral valve replacement in 2020. Over time, she developed increasing shortness of breath that began affecting her daily activities. She consulted Dr. B.C. Kalmath, Director of Cardiac Sciences, KIMS Hospitals, Thane, for her worsening symptoms and was treated by the Department of ...

Researchers have analysed reports of medical procedures in which the brains of awake people were electrically stimulated and found that distinct brain regions may be responsible for spontaneous and voluntary laughter. Two types of laughter have been identified in humans. "Think about the last time you were laughing and you could not stop," author Sophie Scott of University College London, London, UK, said. "Something set of you off and you are helpless with mirth," she said. That is the spontaneous, involuntary laughter and can be uncontrollable, which can be sometimes associated with certain types of seizure disorders, mood disorders, Alzheimer's disease, and schizophrenia, she said. The second is the volitional kind, forming most of the laughter one encounters and timed "incredibly ...

A shorter stride between front legs of a senior dog could be an early warning sign of dementia, similar to how a reduced step length is a sign of cognitive decline among humans, according to a study. Changes to stride are thought to be driven by a deterioration in the function of the brain's frontal cortex and the cerebellum, responsible for planning and monitoring movement, researchers said. Results published in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science indicate that a 10-point increase in dementia score of a dog may translate into a 1.2 per cent reduction in the relative stride length of the front legs. They also suggest that a change in stride length of one's pet should prompt owners to seek veterinary help earlier. "Here we show that the length of front leg stride taken by dogs d...

A 27-year-old woman, Shahad Siraini from Oman, whose health rapidly deteriorated due to a rare hormonal disorder, found a new lease on life after Mumbai doctors came to her rescue to conduct an advanced minimally invasive surgery. It also started when unexplained weight gain initially soon escalated into a complex medical condition. Within three months, she gained nearly 16 kilograms and developed diabetes, hypertension, swelling across her body, purple stretch marks, acne, hair loss, excessive facial hair growth, irregular menstrual cycles, persistent fatigue, and muscle weakness. The turning point came when she suffered severe back pain, with investigations revealing a D12 vertebral compression fracture - an unusual finding in an otherwise healthy young adult. Although each condition w...

Persistent headaches soon became a life-altering diagnosis for a 22-year-old woman when her sudden seizure led to the diagnosis of a concerning, large brain tumour. Navi Mumbai doctors have now successfully removed the brain tumour using a neuronavigation technology, allowing the young woman to improve her quality of life. Headaches are a common occurrence in many people, but they turned fatal for this patient. The woman, a 22-year-old resident of New Panvel in Navi Mumbai, who is also an MBA student, had right-sided headaches for the past two months. On May 3, the patient suddenly suffered a seizure and was admitted to NewEra Hospital for timely treatment by a team headed by Dr. Sunil Kutty, consultant neurosurgeon.  Treatment and diagnosis Dr Kutty said, “The patient was admitted to t...