Tag: Health

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The case for banning paraquat in India

When 36-year-old Meenamma swallowed a small amount of herbicide after a fight with her husband, she did not expect it to kill her. “She just wanted me to realise how deeply she had been hurt,” recalled her husband, Venu. “She thought we would take her to a hospital and treat it.” What neither Meenamma nor...

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Why lullabies work: the science behind music for sleep

Sleep, especially of good quality, is essential to maintain a healthy brain and body. However, millions worldwide suffer from sleep disorders that can impair concentration, memory, and mood and increase health risks, including of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and neurological issues. Sleep disorders stem from medical conditions, mental health issues, genetic predispositions, and lifestyle and...

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Can lung cancer be prevented using a drug?

On June 4 2026, a paper was published in the journal Cell, in which researchers from The Francis Crick Institute, University College London and elsewhere, identified a set of blood proteins that appeared to predict lung cancer five years before it became clinically apparent. In addition, the researchers proposed that a human monoclonal antibody called...

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Advances in cardiac care and the challenge of accessibility in India

Heart failure is one of the fastest-growing cardiovascular challenges worldwide and a major cause of hospital admissions in India. Unlike a heart attack, which is a sudden event, heart failure is a chronic condition that requires lifelong management. Patients often experience repeated episodes of worsening symptoms, leading to hospitalisation. A recent U.K. clinical trial found...

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AIIMS Delhi researchers show exactly how particulate matter affects foetuses

That environmental pollutants can breach the placental barrier and affect foetuses is now well established in research. But how exactly does this happen? Finally, there is clarity on this question. Researchers at AIIMS Delhi have mapped the step-by-step biological pathway through which urban air pollution silences a key foetal growth protein, causing lasting harm to babies.   The ICMR-funded study, published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, has...

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WhatsApp, training and tenecteplase injection bring heart attack care to rural Punjab

At 4:40 a.m. on May 4, 2026, a 40-year-old man came to Khanna Sub-divisional Hospital’s emergency department with sweating and chest pain. Within minutes, the staff nurse and Emergency Medical Officer (EMO) had checked his heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar and more importantly, conducted an electrocardiogram (ECG). The ECG result was sent on WhatsApp...

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The rise of epidemiology as a discipline and the birth of hypertension as a disease

In February 1945, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, then U.S. president, arrived at the Yalta Conference to negotiate the post-war future of Europe alongside Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. The American president appeared visibly exhausted, lethargic and physically frail. Behind those images lay a silent medical crisis. Roosevelt’s blood pressure had reached around 260/150 mm Hg before...

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India’s genetic mosaic: how understanding our genes can help improve our health

India is home to more than 1.4 billion people, thousands of communities, hundreds of languages, and five major language families. Many communities have historically practised endogamy and in some regions, consanguineous marriage. This is both a social and a biological fact with medical consequences. India is not one genetic population. Indians carry a layered inheritance...

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