Health

In another significant achievement, doctors in the Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery (CTVS) at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Bhopal has successfully performed a complex cardiac surgery, giving a new lease of life to a man suffering from a serious medical condition.  The 30-year-old patient from Hoshangabad (now Narmadapuram district) had been suffering from severe health complications for the past six months, Dr Yogesh Niwariya, Head of the CTVS Department at AIIMS Bhopal, said on Monday. Dr Niwariya said the patient had a history of heart attack, paralysis and kidney dysfunction. In addition, several large clots were found in the left side of the heart (left ventricle), and the heart muscle was also weak. He said that because of the clots, the pati...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) may not replace professional care, chatbots like ChatGPT may help reduce mental health stigma, particularly for people hesitant to seek traditional face-to-face support, according to a study.  The team from Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Australia surveyed 73 people who had used ChatGPT for personal mental health support, investigating ChatGPT use and its perceived effectiveness related to stigma. “The findings suggest that believing the tool is effective and plays an important role in reducing concerns about external judgment,” said Scott Hannah, a student of the Master of Clinical Psychology at ECU. Stigma is a major barrier to seeking mental health help. It can worsen symptoms and discourage people from accessing support. The study focused on anticipate...

Stress during pregnancy such as gut changes or a trigger of the immune system can impact the brain health of the foetus, potentially paving way for neurodevelopmental abnormalities to develop, according to a new genetic study in mice. In a paper published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, researchers have mapped how stress events during pregnancy can affect the neuroimmune landscape of the developing foetal brain using spatial transcriptomics -- they help reveal which genes of a tissue were active and where. "Our study establishes a detailed spatial transcriptomic resource of immune gene networks during a critical window of embryonic brain development," lead researcher Brian Kalish, a physician in the division of newborn medicine at US` Boston Children`s Hospital, said. The study mapp...

Karen, an aspiring Paralympic archer living with multiple sclerosis (MS) for nearly three decades has got a new lease of life with the help of precision Ayurveda.  She arrived at the Apollo AyurVAID Hospital earlier this year with over twenty years of near-complete dependence on a wheelchair.  She had persistent chronic pain, weakness, and gait imbalance, and had been advised that no additional clinical interventions were likely to improve her mobility. While training in Chennai, Karen sought to explore whether a structured Ayurveda approach could help restore her mobility, improve muscle strength and overall function. She consulted Dr Susmitha C, a specialist in neurological and autoimmune conditions at the hospital and enrolled in a rigorous Precision Ayurveda programme. Following a ...

An international team of researchers has discovered a new method to fight cancers that no longer respond to treatment.  The team led by Israel`s Weizmann Institute of Science used mutations that make tumours drug-resistant, Xinhua news agency reported. One of the biggest challenges in cancer care is when a therapy stops working. In many metastatic cancers, drugs that initially work lose their effect over time as cancer cells mutate and continue to grow. The new study, published in the journal Cancer Discovery, proposed a new way to confront cancer resistance: harnessing the very mutations that make tumours resistant in order to fight the cancer. The team introduced a computational tool called SpotNeoMet. It identifies therapy-resistant mutations common to many patients. These mutati...

Abundance of severe gum disease -- periodontitis -- may worsen disability for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system.  Previous studies have shown that periodontitis may contribute to central nervous system disorders through chronic inflammation. However, its role in multiple sclerosis has been unclear. The new research, published in the journal Scientific Reports, found that high levels of Fusobacterium nucleatum -- a bacterium found in the mouth -- were associated with about ten-fold higher odds of severe disability in multiple sclerosis patients. "While the gut microbiome has been extensively investigated in multiple sclerosis, the potential involvement of the oral microbiome has remained largely unexplored. Because the oral ca...

The drug-resistant fungal species Candida auris is turning more deadly and is also spreading globally, according to a study led by Indian researchers.  Candida auris is a multidrug-resistant fungal pathogen that has a unique ability to grow and persist on human skin. The study by researchers from the Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute, University of Delhi, in collaboration with the team at the National Institutes of Health in the US, showed that invasive fungal infections are spreading across the globe, and gaining in virulence, affecting about 6.5 million people per year. These infections are frequently associated with high mortality rates, often exceeding 50 per cent, even with antifungal therapy. “C. auris has developed wily cellular strategies to survive, including morphogenesis in ...

The free-living amoebae, also known as brain-eating amoebae, are becoming a growing global public health threat, warned a new study.  Climate change, ageing water infrastructure, and gaps in monitoring and detection are making the dangerous group of pathogens lurk freely in water and the environment, warned the team of environmental and public health scientists, in the article published in the journal Biocontaminant. “What makes these organisms particularly dangerous is their ability to survive conditions that kill many other microbes,” said corresponding author Longfei Shu of Sun Yat sen University, China. “They can tolerate high temperatures, strong disinfectants like chlorine, and even live inside water distribution systems that people assume are safe,” Shu added. Amoebae are single...

Simple finger-prick blood samples that can be collected at home and mailed to laboratories without refrigeration or prior processing can help detect Alzheimer`s disease biomarkers accurately, according to an international study. The research, published in the journal Nature Medicine, represents the first large-scale validation of the accessible testing approach that removes geographic barriers and opens brain disease research to global populations without requiring specialised health care infrastructure. Alzheimer`s disease is usually confirmed through brain scans or spinal fluid tests, which are invasive and expensive. Blood tests that measure biomarkers, such as p-tau217, are emerging as accurate and accessible tools for detecting Alzheimer`s disease. "This breakthrough could fundamen...

Hair loss is no longer a problem limited to men. A large number of women in their 20s-30s are noticing excessive shedding, thinning, and reduced hair volume. Hair loss can happen due to hormonal disorders such as PCOS and PCOD, which are increasingly prevalent today. These conditions are not just associated with acne, irregular periods, and weight gain; they can also severely impact hair health, causing diffuse thinning or even localised bald patches in some cases. It is necessary to address hair loss without any delay with the help of an expert. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and Polycystic Ovarian Disease (PCOD) not only lead to irregular periods, excess hair growth (hirsutism), acne, weight gain, and difficulty conceiving, but even that concerning hair fall. “These conditions tend ...