Health

With the arrival of the monsoon season comes a respite from heat, but not without an increased risk of some infections. While a surge in vector-borne diseases like dengue, malaria and chikungunya is common during this time of the year, leptospirosis also poses health risks, especially during the rainy season, and shouldn’t be ignored, according to health experts. After Kerala, the monsoon also arrived in Maharashtra earlier than usual this year. According to an update by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the southwest monsoon is expected to cover most parts of northwest India, including Delhi, by June 25, well ahead of the usual dates. As monsoon showers continue, it is important to watch out for specific signs and symptoms of diseases like leptospirosis. Causes and symptoms D...

Drinking a cup or two of black coffee daily could lower risk of death by 14 per cent, but adding milk or sugar could diminish the benefits, according to a new study. The same link was not observed for coffee with high amounts of added sugar and saturated fat, researchers said. "The health benefits of coffee might be attributable to its bioactive compounds, but our results suggest that the addition of sugar and saturated fat may reduce the mortality benefits," Fang Fang Zhang, from Tufts University in the US, and senior author of the study published in The Journal of Nutrition, said. Data nine consecutive cycles of the US` National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 1999 to 2018, linked to national death data, was analysed. Responses of more than 46,000 adults aged 20 ...

The last few weeks have been quite disturbing for people as they witness tragic events around the country. It may be worse for those looking forward to some news that gives hope during this time.  While one is about a 60-something woman getting life-saving surgery, the other involves an older woman getting operated for a serious heart disease. Elderly woman gets new lease of life after falling from a horse during her Kedarnath pilgrimageA 62-year-old woman who went for pilgrimage to the holy shrine of Kedarnath met with an accident while on horseback to the temple. The woman fell down sustaining multiple traumatic injuries with T12 compression fracture to the spinal column, left sided multiple ribs, left scapula and hemothorax (chest cavity bleeding). Even though she experienced acute pa...

International Yoga Day, also called International Day of Yoga or World Yoga Day, is an annual global observance centred on raising awareness about the benefits of yoga for holistic health and well-being. The day not only encourages people to realise this ancient practice’s wellness and spiritual potential but also to adopt it in their everyday lives. International Yoga Day 2025: Date and theme International Yoga Day is celebrated annually on June 21. Every year, the observance has a special theme. For International Yoga Day 2025, the theme is ‘Yoga for One Earth, One Health’. According to the United Nations website, the theme echoes a vital truth that personal wellness and planetary health are intricately linked. The theme for International Yoga Day 2024 was ‘Yoga for Self and Society’ ...

Increasing emotional dysfunctions and poor coping skills may be behind the rising trend in cases of women committing or fostering the murder of their husbands, said mental health experts.  There is a rise in cases of intimate partner violence, especially those involving the female partner. From a planned honeymoon killing in Meghalaya to a dismembered body found sealed in a cement drum in Meerut, the wave of husband murders has sparked a fierce debate on the mental status of the women committing these ghastly murders. “These crimes are not to be viewed as aggressor being men or women rather these are to be viewed as human tragedies resulting from emotional dysfunctions, unhealthy coping skills and impaired cognitions and judgement,” Dr Shiv Prasad, professor, and head, Dept of Psychiatry...

Alcohol-related liver disease deaths are increasing rapidly among women and young adults, according to new research.  Researchers from the Universities Havard, Stanford, and Southern California (USC) attributed the rise to higher drinking during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as to increasing health problems like obesity and high blood pressure. "The pandemic itself came under control, but the disparities that came with it continued and lingered," said Dr. Nasim Maleki, a psychiatry professor at Harvard Medical School. The findings, published in JAMA Network Open, based on death certificates from across the US showed that between 2018 and 2022, deaths from alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) rose nearly 9 per cent a year. Between 2006 and 2018, ALD deaths stood at 3.5 per cent per ye...

While children are largely thought to be less susceptible to Covid-19`s serious effects on the lungs, a global study has indicated that in children suffering from severe infection with SARS-COV-2 virus, the health risks may go beyond the acute viral infection and can harm the heart. Scientists from Harvard University (US) and Murdoch University (Australia) analysed blood samples from 147 children across different Covid. Their study identified significant metabolic disruptions that affect how the body processes fats (triglycerides and cholesterol) critical to healthy heart structure. "This research challenges the widespread assumption that children are largely unaffected by Covid-19 based on the relatively mild respiratory effects,” said lead researcher Professor Jeremy Nicholson, Direct...

Maternal exposure to pollution, particularly during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, can affect specific brain structures of unborn babies in the womb, according to a study. The study, published in The Lancet Planetary Health, showed that the changes were linked to brain imbalances, loss of motor coordination, and slow development. "During mid to late gestation, the foetal brain enters a key phase of its development, making it particularly vulnerable to external factors such as pollution," Payam Dadvand, a researcher at Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) in Spain. "As clinicians, we are now seeing compelling evidence that even in pregnancies that appear healthy by all conventional measures, factors such as air pollution can subtly affect foetal brain developme...

The act of donating blood is simple, safe, and can make a huge impact on the needy ones, said Union Health Minister JP Nadda on World Blood Donor Day on Saturday. World Blood Donor Day, celebrated on 14 June every year, serves to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products and to thank voluntary unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood. Nadda urged people to fight myths and misinformation related to blood donation and to donate blood. “World Blood Donor Day brings us together to raise awareness about the importance of donating blood. It saves millions of lives worldwide by supporting those who need it most. Yet, many people hesitate due to misinformation and fear,” Nadda said, in a post on social media platform X. World Blood Donor Day brings us toge...

The way one breathes could possibly serve as their "nasal fingerprints", researchers said after their study could identify individuals based solely on their breathing patterns with a nearly 97 per cent accuracy. "You would think that breathing has been measured and analysed in every way. Yet we stumbled upon a completely new way to look at respiration. We consider this as a brain readout," said author Noam Sobel of Israel`s Weizmann Institute of Science. The findings of the study, published in the journal Current Biology, also showed that one`s "respiratory fingerprints" correlated with their body mass index, sleep-wake cycle, levels of depression and anxiety, and even behavioral traits. Therefore, breathing patterns could offer a window into their physical and mental health, the author...