Health

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday called on countries to strengthen policies to promote healthy diets and physical activity to combat the rising levels of overweight, obesity, and noncommunicable diseases like diabetes and cancers -- a leading cause of death. “The burden of overweight, obesity, and associated metabolic disorders has been steadily rising, affecting both children and adults,” said Saima Wazed, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia. She noted that these have spiked cases of “non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer” and these are now “responsible for nearly two-thirds of all deaths in the Region”. Besides adults, about 50 lakh children under the age of five are overweight, and 373 lakh children between the ages of 5 to ...

Fatigue, sleeplessness, and frequent illness are the early signs that one should watch out for burnout and exhaustion due to workplace stress, and must take help, said experts on Thursday, amid reports of a young CA in Pune who succumbed to death due to work pressure. Anna Sebastian Perayil (26), lost her life due to a “backbreaking workload” and “work stress” at Ernst & Young (EY), claimed her mother Anita Augustine in a heart-wrenching letter to Chairman Rajiv Memani. Perayil worked for four months at the accounting firm, and yet “nobody from the office was present even for her funeral”. In another tragic case, 25-year-old Saurabh Kumar Laddha, working at McKinsey and Company reportedly ended his life by jumping from the ninth floor of his building in Mumbai, after being unable to...

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras have developed an indigenous and portable Point-of-Care-Ultrasound (POCUS) scanner that can diagnose sports injuries on-field.  The POCUS, powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) can potentially allow for on-field diagnosis of injuries, with immediate assessment of the extent of injury that will allow for medical professionals to take a call on whether to permit the sportsperson to continue playing. The novel scanner has a wide range of applications in sports medicine, and it has the benefits of safety (no radiation) and sufficient resolution compared to other modalities, said the team. “We observed a current technological gap and a need for a point-of-care device for injury management and rehabilitation of elite athletes wi...

While Covid-19 did not cause much harm to children, yet those affected are likely to suffer from Long Covid which is affecting their daily life with dizziness, fatigue, and brain fog, according to a study.  The study from the Kennedy Krieger Institute, in the US, showed that the majority of children with Long Covid are likely to experience orthostatic intolerance (OI) -- a condition that causes the body to struggle with regulating blood pressure and heart rate when standing up.  As a result, children often feel dizzy, lightheaded, fatigued, and may experience “brain fog” or cognitive difficulties. The team examined nearly 100 children and found that dizziness (67 per cent), fatigue (25 per cent), and body pain (23 per cent) were the common symptoms, which used to worsen while standing b...

Price sensitivity, quality, and environmental awareness play a significant role in shaping women`s attitudes toward menstrual cup adoption in India, according to a study by researchers at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow, on Tuesday. The study, published in the esteemed Journal of Social Marketing, investigates the various factors influencing women`s intentions to adopt menstrual cups. Focusing on how perceived values -- functional, emotional, conditional, epistemic, and environmental -- impact adoption decisions, the team surveyed 304 women. The findings reveal that emotional values had the most significant influence, “suggesting that respondents believe that they are making personal contributions towards sustainability and society by adopting menstrual cups”. This was ...

Various factors such as high work-related stress, extended working hours, and a lack of physical activity, can affect the fertility of women and men. People need to improve fertility by managing work-related stress, eating healthily despite irregular schedules and late shifts, and doing at least 30 minutes of daily exercise to get rid of sedentary habits. Prioritising careers can cause delays in marriage and family planning for both, women and men. Many women and men are choosing to postpone marriage and parenthood because of career aspirations and goals.  While many tend t to give importance to professional life which is also important, doing so can impact fertility for females and males. Dr Rupali Tambe, fertility consultant Nova IVF Pune, explains, “In today`s fast-paced world, there ...

Love to binge on savoury snacks, ready meals, and sugar or artificially-sweetened beverages? Beware, every 10 per cent intake of these ultra-processed foods (UPF) may raise your risk of type 2 diabetes by 17 per cent, according to a study published in The Lancet Regional Health-Europe on Monday. Importantly, the study showed that the risk can be lowered by consuming less-processed foods instead, said researchers from the University College London (UCL), University of Cambridge, and Imperial College London. To investigate the relationship between the degree of food processing and diabetes risk the team included 311,892 individuals from eight European countries in the study. They were followed over 10.9 years on average, during which time 14,236 people developed diabetes. In the top 25 pe...

While the importance of exercise in stroke rehabilitation cannot be overstated, experts on Saturday affirmed that short bursts of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) could be more effective than continuous moderate physical exercise.  When a stroke occurs, blood flow to the brain is disrupted, leading to damage that can impact physical and cognitive functions. Exercise plays a crucial role in the rehabilitation process by promoting neuroplasticity, where the brain reorganises itself to recover lost functions. HIIT involves repeated one-minute bursts of intense exercise followed by short recovery periods. Use of a stationary bike, treadmill, bodyweight, kettlebell, dumbbells, or jumping rope are some examples of HIIT workouts. “HIIT represents a paradigm shift in rehabilitation, part...

A diet low in carbohydrates could be beneficial for children and young adults with Type 1 diabetes, claimed a study.  People suffering from Type 1 diabetes -- an autoimmune disease that results in the loss of beta cell mass -- have insulin deficiency and hence need lifelong insulin therapy. Researchers from Charles University and Motol University Hospital in the Czech Republic showed that a short-term low-carbohydrate diet led to an improvement in glycemic parameters. To achieve optimal metabolic control, T1D requires frequent insulin administration and daily control of carbohydrate intake and physical activity. While the targets are often missed, especially in children and adolescents, dietary interventions can be a promising way to achieve the goal, said the team. A low carbohydrate ...

A team of doctors here successfully performed a complex, emergency surgery to save the life of a critically premature baby boy with Amyand’s hernia -- a rare condition where the appendix is located in the groin.  “It is only the fourth case of its kind in medical history in the world,” said SRM Global Hospitals in a statement on Thursday. The boy, born at just 28 weeks to Manju, a housewife, and Moorthy who works as a daily wage laborer, underwent surgery on the 23rd day after his birth while under general anesthesia. “The newborn had been in the Neonatal ICU since birth. The baby developed obstructed right inguinoscrotal swelling on the 23rd day. We had to do emergency surgery, as the condition was life-threatening,” said Dr. Saravana Balaji, from the hospital. Balaji explained that a...