Health

New Delhi, Aug 9 (IANS) UK scientists have discovered how some children develop natural immunity to Strep A, a common bacterial infection -- a vital breakthrough which could help develop vaccines to save up to half a million lives globally each year.While Strep A often causes a mild sore throat or skin infections, it sometimes be life-threatening.In low and middle-income countries hundreds of thousands of people die each year after contracting the infection. This increased risk is often linked to heart damage resulting from repeated infections.Researchers from the University of Sheffield were able to identify the specific antibodies that are linked to protection from the potentially fatal infection."Our findings represent a significant step towards a safe and effective vaccine that could s...

New Delhi, Aug 8 (IANS) In 2024, India witnessed a surge in cancer cases, with over 15 lakh people diagnosed with the deadly disease, said Prataprao Jadhav, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, on Friday.In a written reply to a query in Lok Sabha, Jadhav detailed the rising cases of cancer in the country.“The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has informed that as per the National Cancer Registry Programme (ICMR-NCRP) Data, the estimated incidence of cancer cases in the country for 2024 is 15,33,055,” Jadhav said.The incidence of cancer is rising steadily in the country – from 13.5 lakh in 2019 to 15.3 lakh in 2024. In 2020, 13.9 lakh cases were diagnosed. The cases spiked to 14.2 lakh in 2021, to 14.6 lakh in 2022, and 14.9 lakh in 2023, the Minister said.He furth...

New Delhi, Aug 8 (IANS) A total of 224 cases of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) -- a viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes -- have been reported from 11 states in 2025, the government informed the Parliament on Friday.In a written reply to a query in Lok Sabha, Anupriya Patel, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, shared the number of recorded cases of encephalitis -- inflammation of the brain, often due to bacterial or viral infection -- in the country during the last five years.Compared to the last five years, the year 2025, till June 30, experienced the lowest number of JE cases."The 11 states with JE encephalitis cases in 2025 are Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Manipur, Meghalaya, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal," Patel said.While Assam sa...

New Delhi, Aug 8 (IANS) The Indian Council of Medical Research's (ICMR) nationwide SHINE initiative will help ignite scientific curiosity and foster innovation in students and next generation explorers, said Dr. Rajiv Bahl, Director General, ICMR on Thursday.The initiative S.H.I.N.E., which stands for Science, Health and Innovation for Nextgen Explorers, was launched by ICMR and the Department of Health Research (DHR) in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for students to “spend one day as a scientist”.Under this, 13,150 students in grades 9-12, from over 300 schools across 39 districts in 16 states and union territories, were introduced to the field of health and biomedical research at various ICMR institutes.The two-day event aimed to highlight ICMR’s contributions to improving...

New Delhi, Aug 8 (IANS) The Indian pharmaceutical market (IPM) grew 7.9 per cent in July this year, and the cardiac and anti-diabetes therapy segments have shown strong volume, according to a report.The report by market research firm Pharmarack showed that cardiac and antidiabetes -- which together account for nearly 25 per cent of the overall domestic market -- recorded value growth of 14.1 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively.Several super groups, such as urology and antineoplastics, each contributing around 2 per cent to the IPM’s monthly sales value, also reported double-digit value growth. The respiratory segment also registered a 9.2 per cent value growth.“New introductions and price growth have driven the market growth for the month of July for most of the therapies,” said Sheetal ...

New Delhi, Aug 8 (IANS) An international team of researchers has identified new risk factors in DNA that promote tumour development in the lining of the uterus.Cancer of the lining of the uterus, also known as endometrial cancer, is a common gynaecological cancer. Around 400,000 women are diagnosed with the disease every year worldwide, and around 100,000 die from it.Common risk factors include obesity, diabetes, and high levels of the sex hormone oestrogen. The risk of developing endometrial cancer also increases with age.However, around 5 per cent of cases are due to a genetic predisposition: gene mutations that increase the risk of cancer as the basis for a hereditary syndrome, such as Lynch syndrome or Cowden syndrome. Yet, a large proportion of the genetic causes are still unclear.The...

New Delhi, Aug 8 (IANS) The Union government has fixed the ceiling price of four emergency-use medicines and 37 other drug formulations, which include antibiotics and painkillers.The prices were fixed by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), and the medicines range from treating infections, heart ailments, and inflammation to diabetes and vitamin deficiencies."Manufacturers selling branded or generic or both versions of the medicines at a price higher than the ceiling price (plus GST) shall revise the prices downward not exceeding the ceiling price...," the NPPA said.However, manufacturers having an MRP lower than the ceiling price shall continue to maintain the existing MRP, the NPPA added.The emergency-use medicines include Ipratropium, used to prevent wheezing, shortness...

New Delhi, Aug 8 (IANS) Increasing weight loss experienced by cancer patients that often leads to deaths may be caused by communication between the brain and liver, according to a study.Nearly a third of cancer-related deaths are caused by cachexia -- a currently incurable metabolic syndrome that involves substantial weight loss, including depletion of muscle mass and body fat.It also contributes to therapy resistance and increases mortality among affected patients.Researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, US, have discovered that one of the reasons for this loss is disrupted communication between the brain and the liver.When the activity of the vagus nerve -- a major axis of brain-liver communication -- is dysregula...

New Delhi, Aug 7 (IANS) While gestational diabetes is known to affect the heart, women who follow healthy habits like proper weight, diet, and no alcohol or tobacco are 86 per cent less likely to experience any future risks to heart, according to a global study.Gestational diabetes -- a condition characterised by elevated blood sugar during pregnancy -- remains one of the most common pregnancy complications worldwide.The research found that women who adopted a long-term commitment to a combination of five healthy lifestyle behaviours -- maintaining a healthy weight, not smoking, regular physical activity, eating a high-quality diet, and moderate alcohol intake -- reduced their risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) by up to 86 per cent compared to those who did not adopt any of th...

New Delhi, Aug 7 (IANS) Amid increasing presence of Artificial Intelligence tools in healthcare, a new study warned that AI chatbots are highly vulnerable to repeating and elaborating on false medical information.Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, US, revealed a critical need for stronger safeguards before such tools can be trusted in health care.The team also demonstrated that a simple built-in warning prompt can meaningfully reduce that risk, offering a practical path forward as the technology rapidly evolves."What we saw across the board is that AI chatbots can be easily misled by false medical details, whether those errors are intentional or accidental," said lead author Mahmud Omar, from the varsity."They not only repeated the misinformation but often expanded...