Health

Dietary approaches like intermittent energy restriction (IER), time-restricted eating (TRE), and continuous energy restriction (CER) can all improve blood sugar levels and body weight in people with obesity and type 2 diabetes, according to a study. Although researchers identified improved HbA1c levels, and adverse events were similar across the three groups, the IER group showed greater advantages in reducing fasting blood glucose, improving insulin sensitivity, lowering triglycerides, and strengthening adherence to the dietary interventions. IER typically involves periods of reduced calorie intake. It differs from intermittent fasting (IF) as it involves periods of complete or near-complete food abstinence. The research directly compared 5:2 intermittent energy restriction with 10-hou...

The recent move by the Ministry of Health to install sugar and oil boards in government offices as well as schools is an excellent step towards developing healthier workplaces and building a healthy India, said experts on Saturday. Taking to social media platform X, ICMR - National Institute of Nutrition informed that the Ministry of Health “has urged all govt offices to prominently display Sugar Boards” in the push for building healthier workplaces. The boards consist of informative posters and digital boards highlighting the harmful impacts of the amount of sugar and oil present in popular food items, including samosas, kachori, pizza, pakoras, banana chips, burgers, soft drinks, and chocolate pastries. It also displays the effects of these foods on the human body as well as shares th...

German researchers have developed two novel antibiotics that have shown promise for millions of patients with tuberculosis (TB), leading to lesser side effects than the currently available treatments.  The drugs, sutezolid, and delpazolid, have demonstrated strong antimicrobial activity and a notably better safety profile compared to the currently used linezolid, with the potential to replace this current cornerstone in the treatment of drug-resistant TB. Two international clinical studies on the antibiotics published in two peer-reviewed articles in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases showed that both sutezolid and delpazolid are safe, effective, and potential alternatives to linezolid in the treatment of TB. “Seeing fewer side effects with sutezolid and delpazolid is a signific...

Intermittent fasting, a buzzword that refuses to die down unlike other fleeting diet trends, is popularly believed to be an effective eating pattern for weight management. It is also said to have potential benefits for digestive health and metabolic functions. People who follow this pattern regularly cycle between periods of eating and voluntary fasting. This is usually adopted in different ways like restricted eating time (for example: 8 hours eating, 16 hours fasting), alternative-day fasting or the 5:2 approach (unrestricted eating for 5 days and restricting calories on 2 non-consecutive days). While most diets focus on ‘what’ one eats, this method delivers health benefits based on ‘when’ one eats. According to a recent study published in the BMJ journal, intermittent fasting was fou...

A team of scientists in Australia, led by those of Indian origin, has developed a new once-a-week injectable drug that could transform the lives of more than eight million people living with Parkinson`s disease, potentially replacing the need for multiple daily tablets.  Frequent dosing is a burden, especially for elderly patients or those with swallowing difficulties, leading to inconsistent medication levels, more side effects, and reduced effectiveness. To address this, the team from the University of South Australia (UniSA) developed a long-acting injectable formulation that delivers a steady dose of levodopa and carbidopa -- two key medications for Parkinson`s -- over an entire week. The biodegradable formulation is injected under the skin or into muscle tissue, where it gradually ...

While there are rights for people with disabilities, parents or caregivers are often faced with stress that can significantly affect their physical, mental, and financial conditions, finds a study by researchers from the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Rourkela, on Thursday. The study suggests providing parents or caregivers raising a child with developmental disabilities like autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with proper support systems for their well-being. Published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development, the team investigated how the continuous demands of caregiving impact parent’s physical health, ultimately affecting their overall quality of life. The research showed that raising children with developmental disabilities presents...

A study has identified four distinct clusters of symptoms, including psychiatric and cardiovascular, that can progressively lead to Alzheimer`s disease -- an ageing-related condition in which memory and speech steadily declines, eventually disrupting daily activities. Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, US, said the study offers new insights into how the disorder can develop over time rather than from isolated risk factors. "We found that multi-step trajectories can indicate greater risk factors for Alzheimer`s disease than single conditions," first author Mingzhou Fu, a medical informatics pre-doctoral student at the University of California, said. "Understanding these pathways could fundamentally change how we approach early detection and prevention," Fu said. ...

As people deal with many different sicknesses, it is often difficult to find hope not only for the patient but also for their family members. However, modern medical advances have made it possible to treat what was once thought to be difficult and may be impossible too.  In the most recent cases from this week, an elderly Mumbai man experienced relief after city doctors removed a tumour from his heart, helping him lead a normal life. Doctors at Nanavati Max Super Speciality Hospital gave a new lease of life to a 74-year-old man from Mumbai, who was diagnosed with a lemon sized tumour (5x5 cm) inside his heart along with severe artery blockage after a simple ECG investigation. Using advanced Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery (MICS), the surgical team successfully removed the tumour and r...

A new study has mapped how different body parts communicate with each other under physiological stress, such as during exercise or sleep deprivation, which researchers say could one day help diagnose an illness earlier. Researchers at the University of Portsmouth and University College London, UK, said the study encourages a "whole-body" view of physiology, instead of focusing on isolated measurements such as heart or breathing rate. Using `transfer entropy` -- a method of monitoring body signals -- a complex network of maps was created showing which body parts act as `information hubs` under different stress conditions, the team explained. For example, during exercise, the heart -- which is working hard to pump blood to muscles -- receives the most input from other systems and therefor...

While cancer has seen some significant advancements in treatments that have shown promise and increased lifespan, these may also cause serious side effects, which can affect quality of life. A new study by researchers from Australia is shedding new light on the reasons behind these side effects, Xinhua news agency reported. The team from Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) in Melbourne discovered that the protein MCL-1 -- a key target in cancer drug development -- plays not only a role in preventing cell death in cancer cells but also supplying energy to normal cells. As a result, drugs that inhibit MCL-1 can inadvertently damage healthy tissues that rely on this protein for energy, especially in organs with high energy demand like the heart and liver, leading to ...