Young boys are more at risk of developing Type 1 diabetes (T1D) than girls, finds a study.

It showed that the risk decreases markedly in girls after age 10 years, while the risk in boys stays the same.

Furthermore, the risk of T1D is significantly higher for boys with a single autoantibody -- proteins produced by the body’s immune system that attack other proteins.

This suggests that the male gender could be linked with autoantibody development, indicating the importance of incorporating sex in the assessment of risk, said the team from the University of Exeter in the UK.

Importantly, the study showed that, unlike most autoimmune diseases, male sex is a risk factor for type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Nipah virus alert has been issued in Rajasthan after the detection of the dreadful virus in Kerala which has claimed a life, the officials said on Monday.

Director of Health Directorate Dr. Ravi Prakash Mathur issued an order alerting all the medical college principals, CMHO and PMOs and instructing them to detect the suspected patients coming to the hospital and to share their information.

Doctors have said that patients complain of severe headaches and fever. “Its symptoms can become severe over time. The risk of brain infection or encephalitis can increase due to this virus attack,” the doctors said.

People can reduce their risk of age-related dementia by exercising their brains through simple daily habits instead of just relying on smartphones and Googling, according to a report on Monday.

Professor Mohamed I. Elmasry, a professor at the University of Waterloo, in his new book titled iMind: Artificial and Real Intelligence, emphasises nurturing real intelligence over artificial intelligence (AI), saying that the focus has shifted from the former to the latter and it can have far-reaching, debilitating consequences.

He says in iMind that “none comes close to duplicating the capacity, storage, longevity, energy efficiency, or self-healing capabilities of the original human brain-mind. The useful life expectancy for current smartphones is around 10 years, while a healthy brain-mind inside a healthy human body can live for 100 years or longer".

A healthy lifestyle, with proper diet and exercise along with increased awareness, is crucial to tackle the rising cases of brain strokes and other related diseases in the country, said experts on World Brain Day on Monday.

World Brain Day is observed every year on July 22 to amplify awareness and shed light on crucial aspects of brain health. The theme this year is ‘Brain Health and Prevention’.

Neurological disorders include stroke, headache disorders, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, Alzheimer’s disease, and other dementias, brain and central nervous system cancer, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, motor neuron diseases, and other neurological disorders.

The Union government on Sunday informed that a case of Nipah virus has been detected in Mallapuram district of Kerala and the patient succumbed to the disease.

A 14-year-old boy from Mallapuram exhibited Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) symptoms and was admitted to a local healthcare facility before being transferred to a bigger health facility in Kozhikode.

However, the patient later succumbed to the disease.

"The samples were sent to NIV, Pune which has confirmed a Nipah virus infection," the Union Health Ministry said in a statement.

High stress among women in pregnancy may get passed on to the foetus and raise the risk of depression and obesity among children later, finds a study.

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and Dartmouth College conducted a small study of 46 mothers and 40 toddlers and discovered a link between toddler hair cortisol levels -- a long-term stress biomarker -- and maternal prenatal depression.

Published in the American Journal of Human Biology, the study suggests that a child's long-term stress physiology may be influenced by conditions experienced in utero.

Co-author Theresa Gildner highlighted that hair cortisol, which is less invasive than blood tests and more useful than saliva tests, can assess cumulative cortisol exposure over extended periods.

Low sodium levels are a significant cause for worry in older adults, said experts on Friday, noting that it can lead to headache, confusion, fatigue, restlessness, irritability, and forgetfulness.

Sodium helps to maintain consistent blood pressure. It helps to balance the fluids in the body and also assists in activating muscles and nerves.

Low sodium, known as hyponatremia, often poses significant health risks to the elderly over 60.

The hematopoietic cell transplant team at Osaka Metropolitan University Graduate School of Medicine has developed a novel technique based on a new drug combination that has shown considerable anti-cancer activity with low toxicity for relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients.

Furthermore, the precise immunological study demonstrated how a novel medicine increased anti-cancer activity via altering immune cells.

Relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia, also known as blood cancer, has an extremely poor prognosis due to resistance to anticancer medicines and the patient's organ function. Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation is a method of anti-tumour immunotherapy that can have an anti-cancer impact but is associated with substantial toxicity.

French drug major Sanofi Healthcare India has announced plans to make an investment of about Rs 3,600 crore (400 million euros) in its Global Capacity Centre (GCC) in Hyderabad over the next six years.

About 900 crore (100 million euros) will be invested by 2025.

The company also plans to create 1,600 more jobs by 2026.

Amid 25 Zika virus cases reported in the state from January to July, the Maharashtra government on Wednesday appealed to the citizens not to panic but, at the same time, not to take any fever lightly and visit the nearest state-run hospital, where the best diagnosis and treatment is available free of cost.

Of the total of 25 Zika virus cases reported, 21 patients have been found in Pune city alone.

The government has asked private medical professionals, who examine the Zika patients, to get the blood samples of the patients tested from the National Institute of Virology, Pune.

Love to play rugby or football? A new study on retired rugby players showed that suffering multiple concussions while playing increased their risk of diseases like Alzheimer's and motor neuron disease (MND).

The study, led by a team from Durham University in the UK showed that these players are likely to have higher levels of certain proteins in their blood, which makes them prone to neurodegenerative diseases.

It also suggests measuring specific biomarkers in athletes' blood to help predict the risk.

People living with the neurodegenerative condition Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) could be at a higher risk of developing fatty liver disease, according to an international study by researchers from the US, Singapore, and Scotland.

This finding suggests that SMA patients may face additional health problems over time and that its impact extends beyond the nervous system, potentially affecting other organs such as the liver.

SMA is a rare genetic condition that prevents the body from producing Survival Motor Neuron (SMN) -- a protein essential for nerves that control movement. The damage in motor neurons makes them unable to send messages to the muscles, resulting in progressive muscle weakness.

Monsoon is driving cases of a highly contagious hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) -- a common viral illness -- in young children in the national capital, said doctors here on Wednesday.

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) predominantly affects infants and young children, and is characterised by a combination of symptoms including fever, sore throat, mouth sores, and a rash on the hands and feet.

The disease is caused by various enteroviruses, most commonly Coxsackievirus A16 and Enterovirus 71.

Four new human cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, infection in the state of Colorado have been confirmed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), bringing the total cases to nine since 2022.

The four presumptive-positive cases were reported by the state on Friday, and the CDC confirmed the infection on Sunday, according to a press release, news agency reported.

All new cases were in farm workers who were involved in the depopulation of poultry at a commercial egg facility experiencing an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus.

Two UN agencies have called for a catch-up in child immunisation, warning global vaccinations of children stalled last year, leaving 2.7 million unvaccinated or with insufficient inoculations.

The latest World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates of national immunisation coverage provide the world's largest and most comprehensive dataset on immunisation trends for vaccinations against 14 diseases. The estimates "underscore the need for ongoing catch-up, recovery and system-strengthening efforts",news agency reported.

They said on Monday that childhood immunisation levels stalled in 2023, compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, leaving many without life-saving protection, notably from measles. New data reveals that nearly three in four infants live in countries where low vaccine coverage is driving measles outbreaks.

More than enhancing beauty, plastic surgery plays a crucial role in medical reconstruction, experts said on National Plastic Surgery Day on Monday.

The role of plastic surgery is not limited to physical transformation but ranges from aiding in weight loss to breathing issues, and frequent inner thigh infections.

“In India, plastic surgery transcends aesthetics, as it plays a crucial role in medical reconstruction and improving lives,” Manajeet Patil, Senior Consultant - Plastic & Cosmetic Surgery, Aster RV Hospital, told.

While plastic surgery is vital for reconstructive surgeries for burn victims, trauma patients, and individuals with congenital deformities like cleft lip and palate, restoring functionality and normal appearance, it also helps breast cancer patients regain physical integrity and psychological well-being.

Overprescribing is the direct cause of opioid misuse and overdoses for people who don't know how to dispose the medicines safely, according to a study.

A team of researchers from the Network of Canadian Emergency conducted a study at seven emergency departments in Canada to evaluate the ideal quantity of the dosage to reduce misuse and control pain in patients.

Dr. Raoul Daoust, a clinical professor and researcher at the University of Montreal believes that it is imperative to check on the prescription practices to prevent any unwarranted consequences.

The study cited that more than 7,500 people died of opioid overdoses in Canada in 2021, and over 68,000 people in the US in 2020.

“It is important to adapt opioid prescription practices to patients’ analgesic needs for specific acute pain conditions,” Dr. Raoul said.

Walking after meals is safe and may be key to managing diabetes, hypertension, and sleep issues, said an expert.

Taking to social media X, Dr Sudhir Kumar, from Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad, said walking, whether in the mornings or evenings, before breakfast or dinner, is a healthy habit.

"Walking after meals is safe, and short walks after meals are associated with multiple health-related benefits," he said.

Dr Sudhir stated that walking may particularly help people with diabetes as it improves glycemic control -- the maintenance of blood glucose levels.

Hygiene is crucial to curb the cholera outbreak, currently seen in Kerala and Gujarat, said a medical expert on Sunday.

Cholera is a waterborne bacterial infection due to the bacterium Vibrio cholerae that is transmitted from one infected person to another due to contaminated water or food, especially seafood.

"Once ingested, the bacteria multiply within the small intestine and produce the cholera toxins that are responsible for the symptoms of severe watery diarrhoea also called 'rice water loose stools' and severe dehydration,” Dr Sujatha Thyagarajan, Senior Consultant – Paediatrics & Paediatric Intensive care, Aster RV Hospital in Bengaluru, told.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has donated assorted medical supplies, including drugs worth $9 million , to the government of Malawi to support the country's public hospitals.

When presenting the donation on Friday in Lilongwe, Neema Kimambo, the WHO country representative, expressed her organisation's desire to see public hospitals in Malawi well-stocked and people have better access to healthcare services, reported news agency.

Kimambo added that the WHO will continue to support the Malawian government by providing various resources to meet the needs of Malawi's health system.

Malawian Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda hailed the donation, saying that the supplies will help address the shortage of medical supplies in the country's public hospitals.

With 12 new fatalities confirmed, Israel has recorded 31 deaths from West Nile fever since an outbreak in the country in early May, health authorities said.

The Health Ministry on Friday, in a statement, reported 49 new infection cases, bringing the country's total to 405, close to the annual record high of 425 cases in the year 2000, news agency reported.

The Ministry attributed the high morbidity to warmer and more humid weather in the region, which is favourable to mosquitoes, a host that transmits the virus from birds through bites to humans.

The Israeli news website Ynet reported that most of the infected are elderly, aged 70 years and above, while children were also diagnosed with the virus.

People with Type 2 diabetes who experience short or long sleep duration are more prone to microvascular disease, or damage to the small blood vessels, which can lead to serious complications in the future, according to a study on Friday.

The study by Odense University Hospital in Denmark showed that microvascular complications, such as retinopathy and nephropathy, are the top contributors to complications associated with diabetes.

Variations in sleep schedules can further heighten the risk of these complications, revealed the study.

Senior doctors at three major hospitals affiliated with Korea University are set to begin reducing treatment of non-critical patients from Friday to join walkouts by two other major hospitals in support of striking junior doctors.

The planned walkout by Korea University's three hospitals -- Anam Hospital, Guro Hospital, and Ansan Hospital -- will not affect critically ill patients and emergency rooms, according to the university's medical professors who serve as senior doctors at the hospitals, news agency reported.

About 80 per cent of the professors voted in favour of the walkout, and they will take voluntary leave.

On this World Population Day (July 11), we reflect on India’s incredible journey in family planning. We celebrate our successes, look forward to a future filled with promise, and reaffirm our commitment to address the challenges that lie ahead.

India’s leadership and progress

As endorsed in the United Nations International Conference on Population Development (ICPD) at 30^th conference in May 2024, India has not only firmly provided leadership to the ICPD agenda but also has demonstrated tremendous progress on the ground through improved family planning services and dramatically improving health outcomes, especially maternal health and child health.

A 10-year-old boy has tested positive for cholera, while 10 others are under observation at the state-run Medical College hospital in Kerala's capital Thiruvananthapuram.

Those who are under observation and the positive case have been reported from an Orphanage located in the capital city suburbs near Neyyatinkara.

Last week, an inmate died due to dysentery. When other inmates developed similar symptoms, the health authorities got into the act and tests were conducted.

Women who survive cardiac arrest are more likely to experience greater rates of anxiety and depression than men, according to a study on Tuesday.

The research group from Amsterdam University Medical Centre in the Netherlands analysed the five-year socioeconomic data of 1,250 individuals, with an average age of 53, who had survived an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the country.

They looked at many factors to determine the five-year consequences of a cardiac arrest.

With just 20 health workers per 10,000 people, unevenly distributed across regions, the strain on healthcare infrastructure is immense, Dr Shuchin Bajaj, Founder & Director Ujala Cygnus Group of Hospitals, said on Sunday.

Since India gained independence in 1947, the population has grown from 336 million to about 1.5 billion, which has triggered issues at several levels, such as public health, poverty, infections and others.

On World Population Day, which is observed on July 11 every year, it is important to recognise that overpopulation in India profoundly impacts public health, the doctor said.

A first-of-its-kind mice model with a fully functional human immune system and a human-like gut microbiome has shown promise of mounting specific antibody responses.

To date, researchers have not developed a fully functional human immune system, but only those with a brief lifespan that do not mount efficient immune responses, making them unsuitable for the development of in vivo human immunotherapies, human disease modelling, or human vaccine development.

Developed by scientists at The University of Texas in the US, the new model will overcome limitations of currently available in vivo human models and is a breakthrough for biomedical research and promises new insight into immunotherapy development and disease modelling.

The Israeli Ministry of Health reported a fresh fatality from West Nile fever, pushing the death toll due to infections in the country to 12.

The ministry also reported on Friday 61 new cases of infection with the virus, increasing the total number of cases detected in the country since the beginning of May to 236, reported news agency.

It is the highest annual number of West Nile fever cases since 2000, during which more than 400 cases of infection with the virus were diagnosed in Israel, according to the ministry's data.

Scientists have, in a new study released on Friday, shown how Pseudomonas aeruginosa -- an environmental bacteria that can cause devastating multidrug-resistant infections, particularly in people with underlying lung conditions -- have evolved rapidly and then spread globally over the last 200 years.

Changes in human behaviour helped the bacteria -- responsible for over 5,00,000 deaths per year worldwide, of which over 3,00,000 are associated with antimicrobial resistance (AMR) -- to become epidemic, said the team from the University of Cambridge in the UK.

People with conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) -- smoking-related lung damage -- cystic fibrosis (CF), and non-CF bronchiectasis, are particularly susceptible to the bacteria. P. aeruginosa was found to exploit immune defects to persist in cystic fibrosis patients.

Pregnant women are severely at risk of Zika virus that can lead to severe complications, harming the baby in the womb, said doctors on Thursday as Zika cases rise to 8 in Maharashtra.

Zika is an Aedes mosquito-borne viral disease like Dengue and Chikungunya. Although it is a non-fatal disease, when contracted during pregnancy, Zika can cause devastating effects on the developing foetus.

Microcephaly is one of the most alarming outcomes, where babies are born with abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains

Taking low-dose aspirin may treat flu-induced blood vessel inflammation, creating better blood flow to the placenta during pregnancy, according to the world-first study conducted in mice.

Low-dose aspirin is commonly taken to prevent preeclampsia -- high blood pressure condition in pregnancy -- as it stops the body from creating chemicals that cause inflammation.

The study, led by an international team from RMIT University in Australia in collaboration with a team from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, examined whether the treatment for preeclampsia could be applied to flu infections.

 A combination of medicines and behavioural therapies can help adults effectively quit tobacco, said the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday releasing its first-ever clinical treatment guideline.

According to the global health body, of the world's 1.25 billion tobacco users, more than 750 million people or above 60 per cent wish to quit.

Yet 70 per cent of people lack access to effective cessation services -- a gap caused due to challenges faced by health systems, including resource limitations, the WHO said.

Genital herpes infections and their related complications caused billions of dollars in healthcare expenditures and productivity losses globally, according to a study on Tuesday.

The study is the first-ever global estimate of the economic costs of the condition, and was led by a team from the University of Utah Health and was done in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO).

Herpes is caused by infection with one of two types of the herpes simplex virus (HSV). Acquired majorly in childhood, it can spread by oral contact and cause infections in or around the mouth (oral herpes or cold sores).

The study, published in the journal BMC Global and Public Health, showed that around two-thirds of people (67 per cent) aged 0-49 globally have HSV-1.

A 27-year-old youth has died of dengue fever in Bengaluru, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) health bulletin confirmed on Monday.

This is the first dengue-related fatality in Bengaluru this year.

Five dengue-related deaths have been reported from other districts, including Hassan, Shivamogga, Dharwad, and Haveri.

On Friday, the BBMP suspected that the youth and an 80-year-old woman had died due to dengue in the state capital.