Health

She`s Nigerian, but Lebanese by origin and a football star in a conservative country`s even more conservative north. Hidaa Ghaddar is unconventional -- but her approach might be just what`s needed in a city buckling under the weight of drug abuse and unemployment. Ghaddar`s athletic academy aims to keep youth off drugs in football-crazy Kano, the cultural capital of Muslim-majority northern Nigeria. "Drug abuse and playing football don`t go together. It`s either you do this or that," she told AFP of her Breakthrough Football Academy, established two years ago, which also aims to develop future talent for foreign clubs. The 27-year-old has become something of a local celebrity as the country`s only woman coach of an all-male team, defying cultural norms in Kano. She`s more than qualified f...

In a significant advancement for knee preservation surgery in India, Mumbai doctors have successfully performed a meniscus allograft transplant using a graft that was donated, processed, and implanted entirely within the same institution. The surgery at Jaslok Hospital was performed on a 21-year-old engineering student who had lost his meniscus following a sports injury. Despite undergoing multiple procedures earlier, he continued to experience disabling pain that affected both his mobility and long-term joint health. The patient also worked as a part-time sportsman to support his livelihood, and over time even routine walking had become difficult before he arrived at Jaslok for treatment.The procedure was performed by a surgical team led by Dr Prasad Bhagunde, consultant Orthopaedics &am...

A doctor from Manipur’s Senapati district saved the life of a 21-year-old passenger during a mid-air medical emergency on an Air India flight from Tokyo to New Delhi.   Dr Loni Lirina, a critical care specialist at the American Oncology Institute, Babina Specialty Hospital in Imphal, was on board the flight when a young woman began experiencing severe breathing difficulties.  Following an announcement by the flight crew requesting medical assistance, Dr Lirina promptly attended to the passenger.  Upon examination, she immediately recommended oxygen support, nebulisation, and essential medications to stabilise the patient’s condition.  Thanks to her swift and decisive intervention, the woman’s condition improved significantly within 30 minutes, eliminating the need for an emergency land...

Scientists have found that those living with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) have a 71 per cent higher risk of cardiovascular events (CVEs) or death from any cause (all-cause mortality) compared with those not living with OSA.  New research, to be presented at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2026, Istanbul, Turkey, May 12-15), is a collaboration between Imperial College Health Partners; Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK; and Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly). “In adults, obstructive sleep apnea is linked to higher risk of cardiovascular events or all-cause mortality, especially among those with obesity, even after adjusting for confounders,” said study co-author Heather Fitzke of Imperial College Health Partners, London. OSA is characterised by recurrent upper airway obs...

Tuberculosis is one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases and now, a team of scientists has discovered a fundamental flaw in a long-standing model of how bacteria control gene expression that can form the base for innovative strategies to combat tuberculosis and other bacterial infections, an official statement said on Thursday.  Scientists believed that a protein called ‘σ factor’ binds RNA polymerase, initiates bacterial transcription and is then released once the enzyme begins elongating RNA.  This process, known as the ‘σ-cycle’, was assumed to be universal across bacteria, including TB bacteria. For years, scientists believed that a protein called σ factor binds RNA polymerase, initiates bacterial transcription and is then released once the enzyme begins elongating RNA. This...

A team of researchers has shown that people with long COVID are likely to be at an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease.  The research from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, published in the journal eClinicalMedicine, found that the risk of conditions such as cardiac arrhythmias and coronary artery disease is higher even among those who were not hospitalised during the acute infection. “We found that cardiac arrhythmias and coronary artery disease were more common among both women and men with long COVID. In women, there was also an increased risk of heart failure and peripheral vascular disease,” said Pia Lindberg from the Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska Institutet. However, no clear association was found between long COVID and stroke. According to the study, l...

Just a few minutes of vigorous activity each day may lower one`s risk of eight major conditions, including arthritis, heart, liver and kidney disease and dementia, according to a study. While short bursts of intense, out-of-breath activity, such as running for the bus, were liked to lower disease and death risk overall, they were especially protective against inflammatory diseases, including arthritis, serious cardiovascular disease (heart attack and stroke) and dementia, the findings published in the European Heart Journal show. Physical activity is known to bring down risk of chronic disease and premature death, with vigorous activity providing more benefits per minute. "But questions remain about the importance of intense activity versus total physical activity," author Minxue Shen, ...

A new study has found that nearly 1 in 3 Indian fever patients test positive for serious infections, based on testing data collected between 2023 and 2025.  The analysis by healthcare diagnostics company Thyrocare covers over one lakh (108,324) individuals who underwent comprehensive fever package testing across India. The findings show that nearly one in three individuals who opted for comprehensive fever testing were diagnosed with a serious infection, including dengue, typhoid, malaria, chikungunya, or leptospirosis. In India, fever is often brushed off casually. “Just viral." “Wait it out." “Rest and basic medication". But diagnostic data from 2023 to 2025 tells a far more alarming story, one that turns casual reassurance into a dangerous oversight. Behind what appears to be an ordin...

Intensifying its drive to curb adulterated food, Hyderabad police have seized a large number of ice and lassi candies laced with harmful chemicals.  The sleuth of the Commissioners Taskforce, Golconda Zone Team, along with Mehdipatnam police, raided an ice cream parlour at Ahmed Nagar, in the First Lancer area, and apprehended its owner, Syed Musharafuddin, who was manufacturing and supplying ice candies and lassi in an unhygienic environment. The team seized material valued at Rs 5.44 lakh. According to police, the accused was intentionally using harmful chemical substances illegally for personal gain. The police seized 92 packets of ice candies, with each packet containing 180 ice candies and 20 packets of lassi candies, with 210 lassi candies in each packet. They also seized 300 gla...

In a rare neurological case, Kolkata doctors have successfully diagnosed and treated a man with severe headaches giving him a new lease of life.  Probir Guha, a 47-year-old resident of Jadavpur, had been suffering from persistent and severe headaches for over two and a half months.  Dr. Jayanta Roy, director and head – Neurology, Manipal Hospital, Mukundapur, diagnosed the condiiton as Spontaneous Intracranial Hypotension (SIH), a disorder caused by a drop in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure (that cushions and protects the brain and spinal cord) due to a leak at the spine. The patient was treated using a minimally invasive procedure known as an autologous epidural blood patch by Dr. Indranil Ghosh, Consultant – Neuroanaesthesiology, Neurointensive Care, Pain and Palliative Care Special...