Is India Winning the War Against Rising Non-Communicable Diseases? The latest health statistics paint a concerning picture: diabetes, heart disease, and cancer rates are climbing, impacting millions across the country. From rural healthcare access to the burgeoning urban health crisis, challenges remain significant. This week, we delve into the crucial initiatives underway – government policies, technological advancements in telemedicine, and the rising role of preventative healthcare – that aim to address this national health emergency. Experts weigh in on the effectiveness of current strategies and the critical need for increased public awareness campaigns targeting lifestyle diseases. Are these efforts enough? Explore Abtak.com's in-depth coverage on healthcare in India and discover the vital information you need to protect your well-being and the future of public health. Stay informed; stay healthy.
New Delhi, Mar 30 (PTI) Just a few minutes of vigorous activity each day may lower one's risk of eight major conditions, including arthritis, heart, liver and kidney disease and dementia, according to a study. While short bursts of intense, out-of-breath activity, such as running for the bus, were liked to lower disease and death risk overall, they were especially protective against inflammatory diseases, including arthritis, serious cardiovascular disease (heart attack and stroke) and dementia, the findings published in the European Heart Journal show. Physical activity is known to bring down risk of chronic disease and premature death, with vigorous activity providing more benefits per minute. "But questions remain about the importance of intense activity versus total physical activity," author Minxue Shen, from the Xiangya School of Public Health at Central South University in China, said. "For example, if two people do the same total amount of activity, does the person who exercises more vigorously gain greater health benefits? And if someone has limited time, should they focus on exercising harder rather than longer?" Shen said. The researchers analysed data of more than 96,400 people from the UK Biobank. Accelerometers worn on the wrist for a week helped measure movements, including brief bouts of vigorous activity that people often forget, they said. The data was compared with the chances of dying or developing eight serious health conditions in the following seven years -- major cardiovascular disease, irregular heartbeat, type 2 diabetes, immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, liver disease, chronic respiratory diseases, chronic kidney disease and dementia. "Participants with (more than) four per cent VPA (vigourous physical activity) had 29-61 per cent lower risks of these outcomes compared with those with 0 (zero) per cent VPA," the authors wrote. For example, compared with those who did no vigorous activity at all, people with the highest levels had a 63 per cent lower risk of developing dementia, a 60 per cent lower risk of type 2 diabetes and 46 per cent lower risk of dying. These benefits were seen even with relatively small amount of exercise. Shen said, "Vigorous physical activity appears to trigger specific responses in the body that lower-intensity activity cannot fully replicate. During vigorous physical activity -- the kind that makes you feel out of breath -- your body responds in powerful ways. Your heart pumps more efficiently, your blood vessels become more flexible, and your body improves its ability to use oxygen." Further, intensity of vigorous activity appeared to be a key factor in lowering risk of inflammatory conditions such as arthritis and psoriasis. "It (vigourous activity) may also stimulate chemicals in the brain that help keep brain cells healthy, which could help explain the lower risk of dementia," Shen said. However, for conditions such as diabetes and chronic liver disease, both the duration and intensity they exercised for were found to be important. The author recommended, "Adding short bursts of activity that make you slightly breathless into daily life, like taking the stairs quickly, walking fast between errands or playing actively with children, can make a real difference." "Even 15 to 20 minutes per week of this kind of effort -- just a few minutes a day -- was linked to meaningful health benefits," Shen said. PTI KRS KRS MG MG MG
New Delhi: Actress and reality TV star Sana Makbul, winner of Bigg Boss OTT 3, has been hospitalised due to a serious health issue, according to a statement by her close friend Aashna Kanchwala on social media. While the exact nature of her condition has not been disclosed, Kanchwala described it as a "grave condition" in an Instagram Story. Sharing her support, Aashna wrote: "My strongest Diva, I'm so proud of you for showing so much strength and resilience as you battle such a grave condition. Inshallah, you will fight this and come out even stronger... Allah is with you. And I am always s ...Read More >
New Delhi: Eating a bowl of leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables such as spinach, kale, and broccoli could significantly reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes, especially in elderly women, according to a recent study. The research, conducted by experts from Edith Cowan University (ECU), the University of Western Australia, and the Danish Cancer Institute, found that Vitamin K1, present in green vegetables, may help prevent atherosclerotic vascular diseases (ASVD) -- a major cause of cardiovascular issues. Also Read: Helmet: Two Helmets Now Mandatory with Every Two-Wheeler Purchase: ...Read More >
Noida: Liquor revenue in the city jumped by 35% in the first quarter of 2025-26 compared to the same period last year. The city recorded Rs 625 crore in liquor revenue from April to June 2025, compared to Rs 462 crore during the same period in 2024-25.According to excise department data, the revenue in the first quarter of 2023-24 was Rs 430 crore, showing a 7% growth between 2023-24 and 2024-25 and a much larger jump this year.The sharp rise is attributed to the new liquor policy in the state, which made significant structural changes to the retail and licensing system.The month-wise revenue ...Read More >
Bengaluru, Jul 10 (PTI) An investigation into recent cases of sudden deaths and heart attacks among young individuals in Karnataka's Hassan district has found no abnormal increase, according to a report submitted to the state government on Thursday. The data analysis of cardiac cases at the Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and its peripheral centres in Mysuru and Kalaburagi over the past six months also did not reveal any rising trend in cardiac-related fatalities. The inquiry was ordered following widespread public concern and media reports about "a perceived spike in sudde ...Read More >
Mumbai, July 11 (SocialNews.XYZ) Lower back pain is a national crisis that can affect the country's productivity, said Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani on Friday, urging entrepreneurs to build India's first AI-powered spinal diagnostic platform. He was addressing the 5th Annual Conference of the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery-Asia Pacific (SMISS-AP), in Mumbai. The Adani Group Chairman expressed shock over lower back pain becoming a leading cause of disability in the country and noted how it can destroy the dreams of the nation. "I was shocked to learn that low back pain is n ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], July 16 (ANI): The Indian government expressed regret on Tuesday over the reported demolition of the ancestral property of celebrated filmmaker and writer Satyajit Ray in Mymensingh, Bangladesh and expressed its willingness to extend cooperation in its restoration. "We note with profound regret that the ancestral property of noted filmmaker and litterateur Satyajit Ray in Mymensingh, Bangladesh, belonging to his grandfather and eminent litterateur, Upendra Kishor Ray Chowdhury, is being demolished," the Ministry of External Affairs said. Also Read | India Urges Bangladesh ...Read More >
Patna: Nephrologist Dr Hemant Kumar, who served in the field of health, was nominated for the Padma Shri on the eve of Republic Day. In an interview with TOI's Sheezan Nezami, Dr Kumar talks about his journey, inspiration and his future plans. Excerpts: Congratulations on making it to the list of Padma Shri. How are you feeling and what about the celebration? My family, everyone associated with me, and I are very happy. I was awarded for my social work and my model of working, which focused on kidney diseases and primarily on its prevention. Can you share your journey in brief? What inspire ...Read More >
New Delhi, June 8 (UNI) Active Covid-19 cases in India have crossed the 6,000 mark following a surge of nearly 400 new infections reported in the past 24 hours. The country also recorded six Covid-related deaths during this period, with three fatalities reported from Kerala, as per the data available from the Union Health Ministry. As of now, India has 6,133 active cases and a cumulative death toll of 65. Kerala continues to report the highest number of active infections, nearing the 2,000 mark, making it the state with the largest current caseload. In the last 24 hours, 378 new cases were r ...Read More >
Bengaluru, Jul 15 (PTI) No increase in deaths among cardiac patients or a rise in the number of admissions for cardiac ailments, Karnataka Minister Sharanprakash Patil, said on Tuesday, stating that the findings from Karnataka correspond with those of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. "So, people need not panic. There is no correlation between the COVID vaccine and these deaths," Patil told PTI Videos. Also Read | 'Welcome Back': Yogi Adityanath, Mayawati Hail Shubhanshu Shukla's Return to Earth After Completing Historic Axiom-4 Space Mission. Medical Education ...Read More >
New Delhi: Chronic pain is no longer just a personal struggle it's a silent epidemic. According to a landmark study published in BMC Geriatrics, nearly 47% of Indians aged 45 and above report joint pain, and over 31% live with persistent back pain. Despite these alarming figures, the majority of patients delay seeking medical attention relying on over-the-counter painkillers, home remedies, or simply "learning to live with it." Experts warn that this neglect can lead to irreversible damage, disability, and serious health complications. The study, which analyzed responses from over 58,000 indi ...Read More >
Severe air pollution in northern India has led to a surge in demand for respiratory medications, with Foracort becoming India’s top-selling drug in October. The inhaler, used to treat asthma and COPD, recorded Rs 75 crore in sales, surpassing popular medicines like Augmentin and Glycomet-GP. Manufactured by Cipla, Foracort combines budesonide and formoterol for effective dual-action therapy. Other respiratory drugs, Duolin and Budecort, also saw increased sales. With Delhi’s Air Quality Index reaching hazardous levels, the rise in respiratory issues underscores the urgent need for better healt ...Read More >
Keonjhar: The last rites of Lata Mohanta (58), an organ donor from Kodakhaman village in Patna block, was performed with state honours. Mohanta, wife of Kulamani Mahanta, passed away at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar after a brief illness following her brain stroke. Her family honoured her last wish by consenting to donate her organs, her liver successfully transplanted into another patient. "State honours were accorded to recognize her noble sacrifice and promote awareness about organ donation," said additional district magistrate Mandardhar Mahalik, who attended the ceremony. She was gi ...Read More >
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu recorded one more Covid death on Saturday taking the total death toll in the state to six, according to the data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The deceased has been identified as a 42-year-old man who had uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, acute kidney disease and seizure disorder. The total active cases in the state as of Sunday stood at 194 with no new cases recorded, while there are 6,133 active cases countrywide, with 769 new infections being reported in the past 48 hours and six deaths reported in the past 24 hours, the ministry said. There were ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], July 13 (ANI): The Indian Council of Medical Research, National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE), has launched a Community-led Salt Reduction initiative after studies revealed that average daily salt intake in both urban and rural India exceeds the World Health Organisation's recommended limit of 5 grams. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends consuming less than 5 grams of salt per person per day. Studies show that the average intake in India remains high, around 9.2 grams per day in urban areas and 5.6 grams in rural areas, both exceeding the recommended limit ...Read More >
New Delhi, July 14 (SocialNews.XYZ) Dietary approaches like intermittent energy restriction, time-restricted eating, and continuous energy restriction can all improve blood sugar levels and body weight in people with obesity and type 2 diabetes, according to a study. Although researchers identified improved HbA1c levels, and adverse events were similar across the three groups, the IER group showed greater advantages in reducing fasting blood glucose, improving insulin sensitivity, lowering triglycerides, and strengthening adherence to the dietary interventions. IER typically involves periods ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], July 14 (ANI): Paying rich tribute to Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy, the world-renowned physician and doyen of medical academics, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh on Sunday invoked Dr B C Roy's legacy to emphasise the importance of restoring doctor-patient trust which was the hallmark of Dr Roy's era in the first half of the 20th century, Ministry of Science & Technology said. Dr Jitendra Singh, as the Chief Guest, was speaking at the Doctors' Day celebration organised by the national body of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) here. Also Read | Bihar Assembly Elections 2025: Pra ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], July 15 (ANI): After some media reports claimed that Indian snacks like Samosa, Jalebis, etc will carry health warnings, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) on Tuesday issued a fact check stating that display of Sugar and Oil boards is general advisory to make people aware of hidden fats and excess sugar in all food products, and not specifically to any particular food product. It further clarified that the advisory of the Union Health Ministry has not been selective towards Indian snacks and does not target India rich street food culture. In a social media post on X, the P ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], June 8 (ANI): BJP MP Gulam Ali Khatana, who was part of the all-party parliamentary delegation to Europe, said that during their recently conclued visit they successfully communicated India's development story and its resolute stand against terrorism, particularly emanating from Pakistan. Highlighting the delegation's key discussions during the tour, Khatana told ANI, 'We discussed how we dismantled the terrorism factory in Pakistan by responding... We also talked about tourism infrastructure, G20 Summit, and projects like the six-lane roads, bridges, solar initiatives, our ...Read More >
Ranchi, June 27: The health of Jharkhand's political stalwart and JMM founder, Rajya Sabha MP Shibu Soren remains critical. JMM has also expressed concern over the health of Dishom Guru Shibu Soren, admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi. Party spokesperson Manoj Pandey said on Friday that a team of doctors is continuously treating him and he has been kept in the ICU, where only limited people are allowed to meet him. Spokesperson Manoj Pandey informed that Shibu Soren's health is stable right now, although no significant improvement or deterioration has been seen in it. He said that al ...Read More >
Patna (Bihar) [India], July 1 (ANI): Former Rajasthan Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot on Monday said that if the INDIA bloc comes to power in Bihar after the upcoming assembly elections, it will implement Rajasthan's health model in the state. Speaking at a press conference in Patna, Gehlot said, 'The health model we have created in Rajasthan cannot be compared to any other in the entire country. We have also enacted the 'Right to Health' law in Rajasthan, under which every family has been provided with insurance coverage. The Government of India's Ayushman Bharat schem ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jul 3 (PTI) Adopting a healthier lifestyle is more effective than using the anti-diabetes drug metformin, with the benefits persisting over 20 years later, according to a study. The US Diabetes Prevention Program, launched in 1996, enrolled 3,234 patients with prediabetes from 30 institutions across 22 states. The study aimed to compare the benefits of metformin and a lifestyle modification that included exercise and a healthy diet. Researchers from The University of New Mexico, US, found that making lifestyle changes lowered the development of diabetes by 24 per cent, while the a ...Read More >
New Delhi, July 5 (UNI) Fiction thriller 'Jurassic World Rebirth's' has crossed the $100 million mark globally, earning a total of $104.6 million by Thursday, reported Deadline. As per the report, the film made $22.3 million across 70 international markets, including India, with its overseas total to $48.8 million so far. The movie was released in France and India on Friday, expanding its reach to 82 countries now. Directed by Gareth Edwards and written by David Koepp., a sequel to 'Jurassic World Dominion' (2022), the seventh installment overall in the Jurassic Park franchise witnessed ear ...Read More >
Hyderabad-based dialysis care network, NephroPlus, has urged policymakers to include Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) screening in India's flagship National Programme for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NP-NCD), as it released a white paper highlighting the rising burden of CKD across India and neighbouring countries. Speaking at a media briefing in Hyderabad on Tuesday, NephroPlus Group CEO Rohit Singh said the findings of the white paper and a large-scale screening initiative ...Read More >
New Delhi, July 14 (PTI) The Union health ministry has urged all ministries, departments and autonomous bodies to display "oil and sugar board" mentioning the sugar and oil content in Indian snacks such as samosa, kachori, french fries and vadapav to promote healthy lifestyles and combat obesity and non-communicable diseases. It has also called for printing health messages on all official stationeries such as letterheads, envelopes, notepads, folders, etc and publications to reinforce daily reminders on fighting obesity. Also Read | Will Japanese Bullet Train Not Run Between Ahmedabad and Mu ...Read More >
Kolkata, Jul 15 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday hailed the safe return of Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla from space, calling it a matter of national pride. Shukla, a 39-year-old Indian Air Force officer and test pilot, on Tuesday returned to the Earth after an 18-day stay at the International Space Station. Also Read | Will Samosa and Jalebi Display Cigarette-Style Health Warnings? PIB Fact Check Debunks Fake News, Says Health Ministry's Advisory Doesn't Mention Warning Labels on Indian Food Products. "Welcome home, Shubhanshu Shukla! We are r ...Read More >
Bengaluru, Jul 7 (PTI): The Karnataka government on Monday decided to treat sudden deaths as "notifiable disease" and conduct postmortem in such cases. State Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said there will be more screening of people above the age of 15 years in the state. The minister's remarks came in the wake of a spate of heart attacks in the state, especially in Hassan district. He also sought to clarify that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's statement linking Covid vaccine with the spate of heart attacks was not with any malafide intention. "We have decided to announce sudden deaths as ...Read More >
Bengaluru, Jul 15 (PTI) Karnataka Minister for Medical Education Sharanprakash Patil on Tuesday said there has been no rise in cardiac deaths or hospital admissions in the state, vis-a-vis covid-19 vaccination and that the findings align with those of AIIMS, New Delhi. Data shows no such correlation, he said. "So, people need not panic. There is no correlation between the covid vaccine and these deaths," Patil told PTI Videos. Patil along with Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, was addressing a press conference at Vikas Soudha to highlight the findings of reports by the Bengaluru-based Natio ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], January 31 (ANI): The clarion call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to fight obesity and reduce oil consumption has received wide support as people from different walks of life, including actor Akshay Kumar, sportspersons and people from medical fraternity lauded the message to follow healthy routine. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently gave a clarion call to fight obesity and reduce oil consumption. This has received wide support from doctors, sportspersons as well as people from different walks of life. Prime Minister, Narendra Modi inaugurated the 38th National G ...Read More >
Lucknow: Liver fibrosis can increase the risk of cancers like colorectal, breast, and prostate by 3 to 4 times, warned Prof Gaurav Pandey from the department of gastroenterology, SGPGIMS. He spoke at a health talk titled "Fatty Liver - the Silent Epidemic" organised by the Club of Lucknow on Sunday. The event began with an address by chief secretary Manoj Kumar Singh.Prof Pandey said fatty liver disease, now called MASLD (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease), is often silent in the early stages and usually detected by chance. The liver, which weighs about 1.5 kg, processes ...Read More >
People from Indigenous communities do not show the same link between chronic inflammation and age-related illness seen in industrialised societies, a study that looked at nearly 3,000 adults in four countries has found. Inflammation is an important part of the immune system's response to infection -- but long-term inflammation can cause damage. The latest findings, published in Nature Aging on 30 June, show that chronic inflammation -- which has been long considered a hallmark of aging -- could ...Read More >