Author: Deshwale Health Desk

Most people think stress is easy to recognise. They imagine sleepless nights, constant worry, racing thoughts or feeling overwhelmed. Yet stress does not always announce itself so clearly. Sometimes it slips quietly into everyday life and begins influencing the choices we make without us even noticing. You may believe you are making rational decisions about your career, relationships, finances or health. However, stress could be affecting your judgement more than you realise. Psychologists have long studied the impact of stress on the human mind. Research suggests that prolonged stress can affect attention, memory, emotional regulation and decision-making. As a result,…

Ask your grandmother about neem and she will not stop talking. Neem paste for pimples. Neem water for bathing in summer. Neem twigs as a toothbrush before Colgate ever arrived in the village. For generations, the neem tree which grows freely across India, almost uninvited, was the original skincare routine for hundreds of millions of people. Today, that same ingredient is being cold-pressed, bottled, labelled in English, and sold back to Indian consumers at ten to twenty times the price. And we are buying it. This is not a story about neem. It is a story about what happens when…

मुंबई में शनिवार का दिन 104 दिव्यांगजनों के लिए उम्मीद, आत्मविश्वास और नई शुरुआत का संदेश लेकर आया। वडाला स्थित निको हॉल में आयोजित नारायण सेवा संस्थान के निःशुल्क कृत्रिम अंग एवं कैलीपर्स वितरण शिविर में 154 अत्याधुनिक कृत्रिम अंगों का वितरण किया गया। यह आयोजन केवल उपकरण प्रदान करने तक सीमित नहीं था, बल्कि उन लोगों को आत्मनिर्भर बनाने की दिशा में एक महत्वपूर्ण प्रयास था, जो वर्षों से शारीरिक चुनौतियों का सामना कर रहे हैं। शिविर में उपस्थित लाभार्थियों के चेहरों पर खुशी और उत्साह साफ दिखाई दे रहा था। कई लोगों के लिए यह क्षण जीवन बदल…

The ancient summer wisdom we are losing at the worst possible time The Indian summer has never been easy. Long before air conditioners, refrigerators and bottled energy drinks became part of daily life, people found their own ways to deal with the heat. They relied on local ingredients, seasonal foods and traditional recipes that had been passed down through generations. Across India, summer brought with it a distinct food culture. A glass of chaas after lunch, a serving of sattu on a hot afternoon or a refreshing drink made from raw mangoes was a common sight in many homes. These…

It’s midnight. You’re three episodes deep into a new Netflix series, your phone buzzes with Instagram reels, and somewhere in the kitchen, last night’s leftover biryani is calling your name. This is not an unusual Tuesday in urban India. For millions of young professionals from Bangalore’s IT corridors to Mumbai’s financial districts staying up past midnight has simply become normal. But here’s what nobody is talking about: this late-night lifestyle is quietly setting the stage for one of India’s fastest-growing health crises, fatty liver disease. And you won’t feel a thing until it’s too late. India’s liver problem is already…

खाने को अखबार में लपेटने पर सात साल से प्रतिबंध है। फिर भी पूरे भारत में यह चलन खुलेआम जारी है। समस्या नियम की नहीं है समस्या यह है कि इसे लागू कोई नहीं करता। भारत के किसी भी व्यस्त रेलवे स्टेशन से गुज़रिए हावड़ा, छत्रपति शिवाजी महाराज टर्मिनस, नई दिल्ली और आपको यह नज़ारा चंद मिनटों में मिल जाएगा। कल के अखबार में लिपटे गरम समोसे। क्रिकेट स्कोर छपे पन्ने में पैक किए हुए पकौड़े। प्रिंटेड अखबार से रिसती चाशनी में डूबी जलेबी। यह सब जाना-पहचाना लगता है। सामान्य लगता है। दशकों से ऐसा ही होता आया है। लेकिन…

Ultra-processed food sales have exploded across Indian cities. Here is what that means for our health, our families, and the dal that is no longer simmering on the stove. On a Tuesday evening in Bengaluru, Sneha Iyer gets home at 8:30 PM. She has back-to-back meetings behind her and a school lunch box to pack for tomorrow morning. Her mother used to have dinner on the table by 7. Sneha opens an app instead. Within 25 minutes, dinner arrives hot, decent, and entirely someone else’s problem. “I feel guilty sometimes,” she admits. “But after a ten-hour day, the last thing…

सुबह 9 बजे लैपटॉप खुलता है। रात 11 बजे बंद होता है। और फिर शुरू होता है दूसरा दौर Instagram, YouTube, Reels। आँखें थकी हुई हैं, दिमाग़ चाहता है आराम, लेकिन उँगलियाँ स्क्रॉल करती रहती हैं। यह कहानी किसी एक की नहीं बेंगलुरु, मुंबई, हैदराबाद, दिल्ली के लाखों दफ़्तरी कर्मचारियों की रोज़ की हक़ीक़त है। हम जब स्क्रीन और आँखों की बात करते हैं, तो ज़्यादातर चर्चा बच्चों के इर्द-गिर्द होती है। लेकिन एक और तबका है जो इस संकट की सबसे बड़ी क़ीमत चुका रहा है भारत का कामकाजी वर्ग, ख़ासकर 25 से 45 साल के शहरी पेशेवर। काम…

Your father probably started taking blood pressure medication in his late 50s, if at all. Your mother may have been diagnosed with diabetes sometime after retirement. But you? You got the news at 38. Or 42. Maybe even 34. This is not a coincidence. It is a pattern and the numbers are impossible to ignore. India’s chronic disease crisis, by the numbers The landmark ICMR-INDIAB study, the largest nationally representative survey on diabetes ever conducted in India, published its findings in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology in 2023. It found that over 101 million people in India now have diabetes…

On the occasion of World Menstrual Hygiene Day last week, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta held a virtual meeting with principals of government schools across the capital. The agenda was not about textbooks, exam results, or teacher shortages. It was about toilets, sanitary pads, and the silence that surrounds a girl’s period. The government announced dedicated “Menstruation Corners” in every school’s private spaces stocked with sanitary napkins, clean water, and basic supplies. Vending machines for sanitary pads will be fast-tracked in school washrooms. A toll-free helpline for students and parents will be displayed on school walls and gates. And 1,000…