Tag: Health

Before a baby’s first breath, life depends on an extraordinary organ that most people rarely think about — the placenta. Acting as the baby’s first life-support system, the placenta delivers oxygen and nutrients, removes waste products, protects the developing foetus and produces hormones essential for sustaining pregnancy. Yet, despite its critical role in human development,...

Cancer is a group of diseases where abnormal cells grow uncontrollably, invading nearby tissues and sometimes spreading to distant organs of the body. In India, an estimated 1.87 million new cases are likely to be diagnosed in 2026, which means 1 in 9 Indians reading this article are at a lifetime risk of developing cancer....

The origin of human help-seeking behaviour predates language, religion, and civilisation itself. It arises from suffering and pain, one of the primitive impulses shared across the human species.   Pain is a deeply subjective experience, and two individuals with identical injuries may describe very different levels of suffering.   This variability reflects the complex interplay between biological, psychological, and...

Mitochondria, responsible for producing energy in a cell, may have an increased respiratory capacity in adults who experienced adversities in early childhood but the ‘hypermetabolism’ can be harmful in the long term, according to a study. Findings published in the journal Biological Psychiatry suggest that while mitochondria might be better able to respond to cellular...

Every classroom has children who look ready to read, yet when print appears on the page, something slows down. To parents or teachers this struggle can look puzzling: at times it can present as poor intelligence or motivation, and oftentimes, the first guess is that the child has a problem in seeing the text. That...

Although the incidence of malaria fell by nearly a quarter between 2000 and 2015, the trend has reversed over the past decade, with global incidence rising by 8.5% since 2015. Experts say the growing threat of resistance to anti-malarial medicines could complicate efforts to eliminate the disease and reverse gains. India currently holds about 1.4%...

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...

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...

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...

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...