Health

In our hyper-connected modern world, the "always-on" culture has convinced us that constant productivity is the only path to success. However, mental health experts are increasingly vocal about the danger of this myth. As we approach the end of the year, the Christmas break emerges not just as a festive tradition, but as a clinical necessity for our cognitive and emotional health. According to leading neurologists and psychiatrists, the human brain is simply not wired for perpetual output. When we fail to truly unplug, we remain in a state of chronic stress that clouds our judgement, exhausts our willpower, and erodes our most cherished relationships. By understanding the neurological shifts that occur during deep rest, we can transform this seasonal pause into a powerful tool for recover...

US researchers have found a gut bacterium that may help people lose weight and enhance their metabolic health.  This comes amid several weight-loss injections and medications that have proved their ability to help people lose weight. In studies on mice, the team from the University of Utah found that a specific type of gut bacteria, called Turicibacter, can improve metabolic health and reduce weight gain. People with obesity tend to have less Turicibacter, suggesting that the microbe may promote healthy weight in humans as well. The results could lead to new ways to control weight by adjusting gut bacteria, said the team, in the paper published in the journal Cell Metabolism. Turicibacter, a rod-shaped bacterium, was found to single-handedly reduce blood sugar, levels of fat in the blo...

An international team of researchers led by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has developed a cutting-edge nanoinjection drug delivery platform that has the potential to make breast cancer treatment safer and more effective.  Breast cancer remains one of the leading causes of mortality among women worldwide. Conventional treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation, often harm non-cancerous tissues due to systemic drug exposure. The new nanoinjection system delivers the anticancer drug doxorubicin directly into cancer cells using thermally stable nanoarchaeosomes (NAs) loaded into vertically aligned SiNTs etched onto a silicon wafer. The approach creates a precise and sustained therapeutic system that minimises damage to healthy cells by combining nanoarchaeosome-based ...

Exposure to air pollution may have serious implications for a child`s developing brain and cause damage to language development, memory, and mood regulation, according to a study.  Air pollution causes harmful contaminants, such as particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone, to circulate in the environment. The study led by physician-scientists at Oregon Health & Science University in the US warned that exposure to air pollution is associated with structural changes in the adolescent brain, specifically in the frontal and temporal regions -- the areas responsible for executive function, language, mood regulation, and socioemotional processing. "What we discovered was a slow and subtle effect happening on the brain, and while it might not be causing symptoms immediately, it coul...

For a 26-year-old young woman, a routine health concern turned unexpectedly serious when persistent neck discomfort was diagnosed as a follicular thyroid nodule.  The medical part was straightforward -she needed surgery. The emotional part wasn’t. Traditional thyroid surgeries often leave a long, visible scar across the front of the neck. For someone stepping into some of the most important years of her life personally, socially, and professionally the thought of a permanent neck mark felt overwhelming. “Her fear was very real,” recalls Dr. Amol Wagh, consultant – General & Laparoscopic Surgery, Wockhardt Hospitals in Mumbai Central. “Every time we discussed the procedure, her hand instinctively went to her neck. It wasn’t about vanity, it was about confidence and comfort.” To prot...

A new study conducted by scientists at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has decoded the specific risk factors for breast cancer among women in India.  Breast Cancer is among the top three cancers amongst women in India. The incidence of breast cancers in the country is expected to rise by about 5.6 per cent annually, translating to an estimated increase of 0.05 million new cases per year. The team from ICMR’s National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (NCDIR), Bengaluru, conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis on 31 studies covering a total of 27,925 participants, with 45 per cent being diagnosed with breast cancer. The findings, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, showed that “reproductive timing, hormonal exposure, central obesity, and family h...

Gradual reduction of antidepressants together with psychological support can be an effective strategy to stop medication among adults who have recovered from depression, according to a study on Friday.  Antidepressants are typically recommended to be taken for six to nine months after a first episode of moderate-to-severe depression and anxiety disorders to prevent relapse. But there are concerns about overprescribing, long-term use, and withdrawal symptoms after discontinuation, which underscore the need for evidence-based deprescribing strategies. To understand, researchers from the University of Verona in Italy conducted a systematic review and network meta-analysis of 76 randomised controlled trials involving 17,379 adults. The findings, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, do not s...

A team of UK researchers has developed a pioneering blood test that could enable doctors to detect and monitor lung cancer in real time, which will help reduce diagnostic delays and improve patient outcomes.  Using the technique Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) microspectroscopy, the team detected a single lung cancer cell in a patient`s blood. The technique combines advanced infrared scanning technology with computer analysis, focusing on the unique chemical fingerprint of cancer cells, said researchers from University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM), Keele University, and Loughborough University. "This approach has the potential to help patients receive earlier diagnoses, personalised treatments, and fewer invasive procedures, and it could eventually be applied to many ...

Researchers at IIT Delhi on Tuesday announced the development of an ingestible device that can sample bacteria directly from the small intestine, opening a new window into the human gut microbiome.  While not all bacteria are harmful, nearly half of all cells in the human body are microbial. These organisms line our gut and help us digest food, regulate mood, and build immunity. Yet studying them has remained difficult. Existing tools are invasive, such as endoscopy or ileostomy, or indirect, relying on stool samples that do not truly reflect conditions higher up in the digestive tract. The device, a tiny pill, once swallowed, stays shut in the stomach. It opens only in the intestine to collect bacteria, then seals itself again to keep the sample safe while moving through the gut, revea...

A Pune couple, who had been trying to conceive for seven years, were advised to consider adoption due to severe damage caused in the fallopian tubes and endometrium by the woman`s past Tuberculosis infection. Laparoscopy had revealed fluid-filled fallopian tubes, a scarred uterus (Asherman’s syndrome), and an endometrium too thin to support a pregnancy, leaving specialists unable to operate further.  The fertility specialists at Nova IVF Fertility, Lullanagar in Pune, suggested Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy to help regenerate and rejuvenate her endometrium. After carefully monitoring the growth of her endometrium for a year, IVF was initiated at the right time, and the couple successfully conceived and recently welcomed a healthy baby boy. A year-long therapy to grow the endometriu...