The word stigma stands for “a mark of shame or discredit” in the dictionary. And nowhere is the perception of stigma more prevalent than in the world of health and disease. A prime example is the Covid-19 pandemic. Fear, anxiety, confusion and lack of knowledge are provoking social stigma all over the world, putting healthcare …

It’s the most underrated of foods. It doesn’t give you taste, tang or thrill. It doesn’t give you energy or help you beat fatigue. It doesn’t give you micronutrients or calories. Your body doesn’t break it down or use it. Yet it is absolutely essential for your health and functioning metabolism. But because more and …

Diabetes does not necessarily lead to vision loss if you manage your condition proactively and prevent complications. Diabetes is a silent killer. High sugar in the blood damages your body silently, invisibly. Sometimes, long before you are diagnosed with the disorder. If you don’t treat it, over time, it wreaks havoc: on your nerves, blood …

Everyone with diabetes experiences occasional swings of blood sugar. But there is a small but conspicuous group of people, whose lives are constantly disrupted by such instability of blood glucose, that are severe and unpredictable. They are the people with brittle (or labile) diabetes, a term first coined in the 1940s. It is a type …

Making superfoods a part of your diet is a great idea. Just be aware of the marketing hype that is often at work behind new trends and claims. Superfoods are all the rage. And health-conscious consumers love the attributes that go with the “superfood” label: detoxifying, immune-boosting, anti-ageing, stress-reducing and so on. “Food as medicine” …

Invisible fat lurking in the body’s most silent organ is a rapidly emerging health crisis, especially in urban India. And it is no longer limited to people who drink excessively. Recognized in recent years, in the wake of the epidemics of obesity and diabetes, there is still very few published research and almost no treatment …

They are the largest group of healthcare workers in the world. They play a pivotal role in patient care, witness health impacts of diseases, deliver highly specialized services and provide the most important link in healthcare delivery. Yet their potential, expertise and experience are hardly recognized. They are left out of policy development, denied a …

Until recently, a “one-size-fits-all” approach was used to treat most forms of diabetes. Not anymore. Personalised therapy is all set to bring new hope and cheer for people with diabetes The era of big data, genomics and molecular medicine offer novel treatment opportunities. One such emerging area is precision diabetes. It is already proving to …

Abstract Aim: Achievement of treatment targets among individuals with diabetes remains suboptimal in many parts of the globe. We aimed to assess changes in diabetes prevalence and achievement of diabetes care goals in South Asia using two consecutive cross-sectional population-based surveys. Methods: Two representative samples of South Asian adults were recruited using identical methods from Chennai, Delhi, …

I was operated upon for a brain tumour, known as acoustic neurofibroma in medical parlance, in April 1995. This was essentially a benign tumour on the 8th cranial nerve or auditory nerve, which had unfortunately grown so much that it was also resting on my facial nerves (sensory and motor) and would result in the …