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🇮🇳 India — Health News
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Plant-based meat yields higher share of absorbable protein than traditional meat: study
Laboratory tests show higher protein bioavailability in five plant-based products than in their chicken counterparts; researchers caution further stud…
The Hindu Group, Cancer Institute launch book on comprehensive cancer care
Cancer 360 examines detection, treatment, rehabilitation and palliation
Keralam plans Bill to regulate high treatment costs in private hospitals
Health Minister K. Muraleedharan tells Assembly that govt will introduce Bill in next session, says govt agrees in principle to the need to regulate p…
Why West Bengal’s C-Sections, at nearly 1 in 2 births, demand a hard look
NFHS-6 data puts the rate of Caesarean sections in West Bengal at 44.5%, nearly double the 2015-16 level and significantly higher than the national av…
Amgen drug combined with immunotherapy extends survival in lung cancer trial
The Amgen drug is currently approved for adults in the advanced stages of small cell lung cancer that has worsened despite chemotherapy, based on data…
IIT Bombay develops low-cost device to screen for anaemia, sickle cell disease
The researchers said their patented automated smearing device can be manufactured cost-effectively and the test itself requires only a pipette, glass …
Most people globally face 'high genetic risk' for three common diseases: Study
The team analysed data from two major population biobanks that include whole genome sequencing, covering nearly one million individuals
Bengaluru’s BMTC drivers, traffic police, pourakarmikas, construction workers show reduced lung function: Survey
Among the occupations, pourakarmikas were found to have the highest proportion of workers with the PRISm pattern, an indication of reduced lung capaci…
Can the new fortified potato variety the Centre is promoting help with India’s hidden hunger problem?
Kufri Jamunia is a purple skinned and fleshed potato with higher levels of certain nutrients compared to regular potatoes. At present, however, taking…
Amid row, Keralam’s UDF govt says cost of generic SMA drug can be cut further
Health Minister K. Muraleedharan tells Assembly that UDF government’s aim, eventually, is to offer medicines free of cost to all SMA patients. LDF Opp…
India needs to train its clinical staff before erecting data shields
User data is routinely commoditised today, and passing a law assuming compliance and waiting for complaints or litigation will not suffice. As the DPD…
Panel formed to probe spurious liquor death claims in Madhya Pradesh's Dewas; report in 15 days
Some villagers have claimed that at least 10 persons died after consuming spurious liquor in Dewas district between September 27 and October 16
Concerns about quality of health care, unemployment, as RMPs in Keralam cross one-lakh mark
As many as 31,446 doctors got their registrations between 2021 and 2025, show data from the Kerala State Medical Councils
The need for a national media council
Just like there is the Bar Council of India for lawyers and an Institute of Chartered Accountants of India for chartered accountants, the media counci…
Shamonda virus, the livestock pathogen detected in human for the first time | Explained
The virus, which mainly affects livestock, has been detected in humans for the first time, prompting investigations into its potential public health i…
Melioidosis in India: a potentially deadly infection that may be going undetected
A multicentre study found that nearly one in 11 high-risk hospitalised adults had melioidosis, with almost one in five confirmed patients dying in hos…
KSSP supports distribution of generic drug for SMA patients in Keralam
Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad president C. Ramakrishnan and general secretary V. Manoj Kumar say that access to this medication is crucial for improv…
What is the controversy over the spinal muscular atrophy drug in Keralam? Explained
After the government switched the drug in its SMA programme from branded to generic, parents of children living with SMA have been asking for a switch…
Health Wrap Episode 56 discusses early-onset Alzheimer’s, cancer research paper mills and more
The episode discusses how Alzheimer’s disease can present in younger people, concerns about cancer research articles linked to suspected paper mills, …
What happens inside the brain during a stroke?
The first few hours of a stroke determine how damaged the brain can become. Knowing the signs and seeking timely medical help is crucial
Early Alzheimer’s, cancer research paper mills and treatment access | Health Wrap 56
In the 56th episode of Health Wrap by The Hindu, Ramya Kannan, Health Editor, The Hindu, and Zubeda Hamid, Senior Assistant Editor, The Hindu, discuss…
Back pain: Lancet review calls for clinical assessment over routine scans
Guidelines favour patient education, physical activity and exercise, with imaging reserved for cases where serious disease is suspected, say doctors
Poland’s abortion law: What will the new bills change? | Explained
Poland’s restrictive abortion law faces two new bills aiming to ease limits, amid protests and political uncertainty ahead of elections.
NMC withdraws 2023 rules on medical education standards, raising accountability concerns
MSMER-2023 withdrawal removes overlapping procedures, eliminates duplication, says NMC; medical activists say the move dilutes regulatory oversight, w…
Advocacy group questions Medanta MD Naresh Trehan’s inclusion in panel on pharma marketing practices
In a representation to the Department of Pharmaceuticals, the group urges the government to replace Medanta chairman with a member free of potential c…
Greece passes social media ban for children under 15
Greece is among seven European Union countries seeking an age verification solution with the European Commission
Kenya announces 2nd Ebola death, close relative of first patient
The remaining seven Ebola patients were receiving treatment at two isolation facilities. No new infections were reported
Ebola vaccine trial begins in DR Congo
Ervebo, a vaccine approved for use against the more common Zaire strain of Ebola, will be put through a full-scale human trial in the DRC to see if it…
ICMR-funded GITAM project aims at blood test for early detection of triple-negative breast cancer
The ICMR-funded project will compare blood samples from early-stage patients with those from healthy women
Microsoft develops AI tool that can diagnose 'sequentially' like a doctor
Microsoft researchers say an AI tool that diagnoses patients step by step, as doctors do, was more than twice as accurate as general physicians
Extreme weather, harmful chemicals escalating health risks among food workers, finds global report
Many farmworkers lack basic protection from extreme weather, including access to shade, rest breaks and drinking water, the report notes, adding that …
A greying population, a strained care system
Gaps in geriatric healthcare and support systems leave many older people struggling to access medical care, find reliable caregivers, and cope with me…
Inadequate sleep increases the risk of fatty liver disease
With every one-hour decrease in sleep time from the recommended seven-eight hours, the risk of fat deposition in the liver increased by 24%
Explained: What do the National Medical Commission’s new guidelines say about advertising in medicine?
Claims of “guaranteed cures”, “100% success” or being the “best” are barred. Hospitals may publish factual details of services, charges, accreditation…
Fanny Angelina Hesse: the woman who changed microbiology with a kitchen jelly
No one imagined that a domestic ingredient could resolve a foundational problem. Fanny Angelina Hesse’s suggestion to replace gelatin with agar, chang…
Remembering Rosalind Franklin, whose photograph was crucial to discovering DNA’s structure
When the Nobel Prize for Physiology in 1962 was announced, the names on that list were Watson and Crick, shared with Wilkins. It was decades before Fr…
Celebrating forgotten women who helped improved maternal health
The beginnings of modern gynaecology raise enduring questions about science, ethics and the women at the centre of its history
An Indian woman phytochemist without parallel
Asima Chatterjee pioneered research on medicinal plants and plant-derived drugs, while breaking barriers for women in Indian science
India’s first woman Surgeon General fought for a place in science
India’s first female Surgeon General and medical pioneer whose work laid the groundwork for the modern Kerala model of health
HeLa to a new world where progress in science matches dignity for patient
The omission of Henrietta Lacks, who donated the immortal cells that have facilitated biomedical research, from scientific history is a rare wrong tha…
Salvaging limbs and lives: A chemist to the rescue
By making chaulmoogra oil injectable, Alice Augusta Ball developed the first practical treatment for leprosy, transforming care for patients around th…
In IVF, an unrecognised contributor gets the spotlight: Jean Purdy
Purdy was the first to recognise and describe the formation of the early human blastocyst – the cluster of cells that forms five or six days after a s…
Medicine as a central plot in Tamil literature
Tamil fiction has long explored health, illness, and the social forces shaping care, with notable works by Muthumeenal, Sivakami, and especially Imaya…
Women are protesting around Poland for free access to legal abortions
Passing the draft laws now, a year before the next parliamentary election, is a case of “token gestures” rather than a genuine effort to reform aborti…
Karnataka to set up committee to boost deceased donor organ transplants
Panel will recommend measures to strengthen organ donation network, says Health Minister
SAT Hospital in Keralam rejects charges of ‘clinical trial drugs’ given to SMA-afflicted children
Hospital Superintendent says decision to provide SMA patients with a less expensive, generic version of the original molecule against SMA, in place of…
Good-quality diets associated with better cholesterol levels even among those with genetic load
Chennai-based study reveals the essential link between the quality of diet and cholesterol levels in Asian Indians