Health

With proper awareness and technology, nearly 85 per cent of oral problems are preventable, said health experts on Saturday, September 20.  Speaking at the three-day 35th Annual Conference of the Indian Society for Dental Research (ISDR) held here, over 30 national and international keynote speakers emphasised the need for research-driven collaboration across oral and craniofacial sciences. "Oral diseases may not always be life-threatening, but they silently erode the quality of life. Nearly 85 per cent of oral problems are preventable if addressed through awareness, preventive research, and the use of affordable technologies," Prof. (Dr.) Mahesh Verma, Vice Chancellor, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU), said. "Our challenge is big. Millions across rural and urban India ...

Vascular dementia -- cognitive impairment caused by disease in the brain`s small blood vessels -- is a widespread problem, but it has not been as thoroughly studied as Alzheimer`s disease, in which abnormal plaques and protein tangles are deposited in neural tissue, according to researchers.  The team at the University of New Mexico developed a new model for characterising and categorising different forms of vascular dementia to better understand the various forms of the disease and find effective treatments. Conditions like hypertension, atherosclerosis, and diabetes have been linked to vascular dementia, but other contributing causes, including the recent discovery of significant quantities of nano -- and microplastics in human brains, remain poorly understood, said Elaine Bearer, Prof...

A sudden outbreak of diarrhoea in Mohanpur village under Sadar block has left two dead and over 75 residents hospitalised, most of them children, during the ongoing monsoon season.  The deceased have been identified as Deeplal Yadav and Laxmi Devi, both residents of Mohanpur. Infected villagers have been admitted to Darbhanga Sadar Hospital and Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) for treatment. Ranjana Devi, whose son is undergoing treatment at DMCH, described how the illness spread rapidly in her household. “First, one of my children showed symptoms of diarrhoea, and later the entire family, including me, developed the same symptoms. We first went to the primary health centre, but doctors referred us to DMCH for treatment,” she said. Darbhanga Civil Surgeon Dr. Arun Kumar c...

Women with excessive nausea and vomiting (hyperemesis gravidarum) during pregnancy may be at a 50 per cent high risk of mental health conditions such as post-partum psychosis, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a study.  Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) affects up to 3.6 per cent of all pregnancies. HG is the most common cause of hospitalisation in the first trimester of pregnancy, and the majority of HG cases (but not all) resolve in the second trimester. Women with HG experience prolonged and severe nausea and vomiting, leading to dehydration and weight loss. In the study, published in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology, & Women’s Health, UK researchers examined 24 neuropsychiatric and mental health-related outcomes reported within a year of diagnosis in 4...

Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, have successfully performed a life-saving keyhole lung surgery on a 50-day-old baby weighing just 2.5 kilograms. The infant, referred from Bihar, was suffering from a rare and serious condition known as congenital pulmonary airway malformation (CPAM) - an abnormal development of a part of the lung that prevents normal breathing, according to an official release. In this case, the malformation was unusually large and located on the right side of the chest. It compressed the left lung, leaving the baby gasping for breath. By the time he arrived at AIIMS, his condition was critical, and the child was placed on ventilator support. Given the severity of the condition, the child was admitted, stabilised, and prepared f...

Renowned Mumbai pathologist Dr Anita Borges has passed away, Tata Memorial Hospital confirmed through a social media post on Friday, September 19. The medical expert was closely associated with the city-based cancer hospital. The city-based pathologist, who was the daughter of renowned Indian oncologist and cancer surgeon Dr Ernest Borges, was a pioneer of oncopathology and held several prominent positions in the medical field in Mumbai and India.In a career spanning over four decades, she was the head of Surgical Pathology of Tata Memorial Hospital. While she has been the director of the Centre for Oncopathology at Wadala, she was also a consultant histopathologist and the head of Department of Histopathology at S.L. Raheja Hospital in Mumbai, and the Dean of the Indian College of Patholo...

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, hypertension and cancers, as well as mental health conditions like anxiety and depression, are a silent killer, World Health Organisation (WHO) Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Thursday.  He urged countries to strengthen cost-effective solutions to tackle the rising burden of NCDs and mental health. "Noncommunicable diseases and mental health conditions are silent killers, robbing us of lives and innovation," said Ghebreyesus. In a new report titled “Saving lives, spending less”, the WHO revealed that an additional investment of just $3 per person annually in tackling NCDs could yield economic benefits of up to $1 trillion by 2030. Interestingly, the report showed 82 per cent of countries achieved reductions in N...

Changing weather conditions are driving influenza A strain H3N2 cases in Delhi-NCR, said health experts on Wednesday.  City doctors have reported a sharp increase in viral illness in Delhi-NCR. H3N2 is a seasonal flu that circulates in humans and mutates over time. Children, older adults, and pregnant women are most vulnerable to the disease. It also causes more severe symptoms in high-risk populations such as those with weakened immune systems and patients with asthma, COPD, cardiovascular disease, or diabetes. “Cases of influenza due to H3N2 are rising. Major symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, myalgia (muscle pain), Animesh Ray, Additional Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, AIIMS, told IANS. The expert noted that the condition is usually mild but can turn severe in...

In a remarkable case of strength and recovery, a 12-year-old girl suffering from Type-1 diabetes has defied the odds to be on her path to recovery in Mumbai.The treatment of the girl, Dharithree, was managed by Dr Pradeep Mahajan, a regenerative medicine researcher in Navi Mumbai, and his team. With the girl suffering from Type 1 diabetes mellitus, Dr Mahajan, who is also the founder of StemRx Hospital & Research Center, has helped improve her condition with timely treatment. Once dependent on 31 units of insulin every day, her body has shown an extraordinary improvement, now requiring only two units daily after prompt intervention. This rare outcome has not only brought joy to her family but also stands as a ray of hope for other children struggling with the lifelong burden of diabete...

Doctors at a Mumbai hospital have successfully treated a 49-year-old woman, who developed severe, life-threatening complications following bariatric surgery.  In a critical condition, Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre`s team stepped in to perform a high-risk corrective surgery to give her a new lease of life.  In February 2025, the patient underwent bariatric surgery in Ahmedabad. Three months later, she developed severe complications and was admitted to two different hospitals in Navi Mumbai for emergency care, where she underwent emergency laparotomy (abdominal surgery to open and examine the abdomen) for a perforated gastro-jejunostomy ulcer (a hole at the stomach–small intestine connection). Her recovery was further complicated by acute kidney injury (sudden kidney failure) and a c...