Heart disease is often linked to high cholesterol, obesity, or lack of exercise. However, there is mounting evidence that suggests that mental health plays a crucial role in cardiovascular well-being. Stress, anxiety, and depression can silently strain the heart, increasing the risk of serious complications.

A recent study, published in Nature Human Behaviour, showed that loneliness has a significant impact on proteins present in a person's blood. For the study, researchers used data from more than 42,000 participants to explore whether the 9.3% who reported social isolation and 6.4% who reported loneliness had different levels of proteins in their blood compared with those who did not. The researchers then studied data that tracked the health of participants over an average 14-year period.

"We found around 90% of these proteins are linked to the risk of mortality," Dr Chun Shen, Fudan University in China, who is also the lead researcher said. "In addition, about 50% of the proteins were linked to cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and stroke," he added.

Dr Shrey Kumar Srivastav, senior consultant at Sharda Hospital, said that subtle symptoms of heart disease, such as fatigue, shortness of breath, swelling in the lower legs, dizziness, and jaw pain, are often overlooked or attributed to stress and ageing. "Women, in particular, may experience atypical signs like extreme fatigue, indigestion, or upper abdominal pain instead of classic chest pain, leading to delayed diagnosis," he added.

Can Mental Health Issues Trigger Heart Diseases?

Chronic stress can trigger harmful cardiovascular effects, including elevated blood pressure, increased heart rate, and inflammation—key contributors to heart disease. Anxiety and depression further impact heart health by disrupting sleep patterns, raising stress hormone levels, and encouraging unhealthy habits like poor diet and inactivity.

Mental health issues like depression and anxiety have a profound impact on the heart. They don’t just affect emotions but can increase inflammation and put extra strain on the cardiovascular system, warns Dr Srivastav.

Certain risk factors, such as obesity and diabetes, disproportionately affect women, making them more vulnerable to heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). However, due to gender-specific symptom variations, heart disease in women often goes undiagnosed for longer.

Obesity is more prevalent in women than men and is a major risk factor for heart failure. Diabetes, too, has a greater impact on women’s heart health, yet diagnosis and treatment delays are common. Addressing this gap requires increasing awareness, training healthcare providers, and promoting early diagnostic tools,” explains Dr Srivastav.

How Can You Protect Your Heart?

A simple yet effective way to support heart health is by committing to a brisk 30-minute walk daily. Walking not only helps regulate blood pressure and manage weight but also improves circulation and reduces stress.

"Regular physical activity, paired with a heart-healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins, significantly lowers cardiovascular risks," advises Dr Srivastav.

Heart disease can often go undetected until a major event occurs, making routine screenings essential.

- For women: Begin screenings around age 30 and continue with regular checkups.

- For men: Start screenings at age 35.

Health screenings, including blood pressure checks, cholesterol tests, and electrocardiograms (ECGs), are critical for early detection of silent heart conditions.

A new study published in The Lancet Oncology journal today revealed that breast cancer continues to be the most common cancer among women worldwide, and predicted that the number of new cases of the deadly disease will reach more than 3.5 million globally in 2050 -- rising by a third from 2.3 million in 2023.

The Global Burden of Disease analysis with data from 204 countries revealed that despite advancements in breast cancer treatments, yearly deaths from the disease will rise by 44 percent -- from around 764,000 to 1.4 million.

While breast cancer disproportionately impacts countries with limited resources, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, including not smoking, getting sufficient physical activity, lowering red meat consumption, and having a healthy weight were found to prevent over a quarter of healthy years lost to illness and premature death.

“Breast cancer continues to take a profound toll on women’s lives and communities,” said lead author Kayleigh Bhangdia from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), University of Washington, US.

“While those in high-income countries typically benefit from screening and more timely diagnosis and comprehensive treatment strategies, the mounting burden of breast cancer is shifting to low- and lower middle-income countries where individuals often face later-stage diagnosis, more limited access to quality care, and higher death rates that are threatening to eclipse progress in women’s health,” Bhangdia added.

Inequalities In Breast Cancer Burden

The study revealed that the rates of new cases remain highest in high-income countries (HICs), but are growing fastest in low-income countries (LICs).

Women in low- and lower-middle-income countries accounted for 27 percent (around 628,000) of new cases globally, exposing likely disparities in timely diagnosis and shortages of quality treatment, including radiotherapy machines, chemotherapy drugs, and pathology labs, and standard treatments.

In 2023, an estimated 2.3 million new breast cancers were diagnosed worldwide in women (with 73 percent or 1.67 million cases occurring in high- and upper-middle-income countries). Of these, 764,000 ended in deaths (with 39 percent or 300,000 deaths occurring in low- and lower-middle-income countries).

Further, the number of years of healthy life lost due to poor health and early death more than doubled from 11.7 million years in 1990 to 24 million years in 2023.

Women in low- and lower-middle-income countries also contribute to more than 45 percent of all the ill-health and early deaths from breast cancer globally (nearly 11 million years of healthy life lost).

Three-fold Rise In Pre-menopausal Breast Cancer

The study reported a three-fold rise in pre-menopausal breast cancer in women aged 55 or older in 2023 -- compared to women aged 20-54 years.

However, rates of new cases have risen in women aged 20-54 years (up 29 percent) since 1990, with rates in older women remaining relatively unchanged.

Major Lifestyle Risk Factors

In 2023, 28 percent of the global breast cancer burden (6.8 million years of healthy life lost to disability, illness, and early death) was linked to six potentially modifiable risk factors. These include:

• High red meat consumption -- linked to nearly 11 percent of all healthy life lost
• tobacco use (including second-hand smoke; 8 percent),
• high blood sugar (6 percent),
• high body mass index (4 percent),
• high alcohol use and low physical activity (both 2 percent)

Substantial progress has been made in reducing the global breast cancer burden linked to high alcohol use and tobacco between 1990 and 2023, which declined by 47 percent and 28 percent, respectively.

A health minister is standing down at the age of 53 from her role in government after she was diagnosed with incurable breast cancer. Ashley Dalton, has been diagnosed with incurable metastatic breast cancer and wants to continue her role as the MP for West Lancashire because her work is "central" to her identity. However, she would stand down from her role as a health minister because she is concerned that she will become too sick to fulfil "any of the roles I love" if she is to continue to serve the designation.

Also Read: 3 US Hospitals Rank in the Top 10 List of World's Best Hospitals

Writing in The Times, she said, "I have to consider what reasonable adjustments I might make. Before being made a government minister, I was elected by the people of West Lancashire to represent them as their MP. My priority has to be to do that job. But to continue to serve my constituents as they deserve, whilst adequately managing the side effects of chemo as well as caring for my elderly mum, I must make reasonable adjustments to my workload. The alternative would likely be more regular trips to Liverpool Aintree, making myself sick and unable to fulfil any of the roles I love.”

Ashley Dalton Health Update

She writes that she is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment. She also writes that cancer is different for every patient and that this is not a "homogenous disease".

She also writes that while anyone who hears of chemotherapy thinks of the absolute worse, with IV drip hanging in their arm, in hospital and bald. However, she clarifies that this is not the case with her. "But, for now at least, my treatment is not like that. You likely wouldn’t be able to guess I am undergoing major medical intervention as I stand in front of you. I take five tablets twice a day for two weeks, with a week of rest as part of a three-week cycle," she writes.

Also Read: Giant 99th Percentile Baby Of 5.9Kg Born In New York Has Taken The Internet By Storm

She also says that her disease is stable and she is also well aware that she will never beat the cancer. When people ask her when will she know that she has beaten her cancer, she says, "when I have died of something else."

When Dalton was diagnosed with metastatic — stage 4 — breast cancer, she was told, gently but firmly, that support was available. That she could step back. That she could give up work.

“But the biggest mistake anyone could make about me and my cancer is to write me off,” she has said.

For some, stepping away from work is the right and necessary choice. “But just as cancer is not homogeneous,” Dalton writes, “neither are we people living with cancer.” Her diagnosis did not mark the end of her public life. Instead, it sharpened her sense of purpose — particularly in shaping how government responds to serious illness.

A Cancer Patient At The Head Of The Cancer Plan

As a health minister in the UK government, Dalton led the development of the National Cancer Plan — a sweeping strategy aimed not only at improving survival rates but transforming life after diagnosis.

Beyond what she describes as “the fastest rate of improvement in health outcomes for cancer patients in a century,” the plan is designed to save 320,000 lives over its course. But the statistic she seems most proud of is less numerical and more human.

“What I’m so proud of is the support the plan gives to people living with cancer not just to survive, but to live, and to live well. To work, to have a family, to thrive. To exist beyond the diagnosis.”

It is policy shaped by lived experience. Dalton has insisted that cancer patients remain central to decision-making — “because there was a cancer patient at the head of the plan.”

The National Cancer Plan places stronger emphasis on early diagnosis, faster treatment pathways, and equitable access to care. But it also pushes for something often overlooked: reasonable adjustments in workplaces, better psychosocial support, and a recognition that patients are not defined solely by their illness.

Beyond Cancer: A Broader Health Agenda

In just 12 months, Dalton led work on three major national strategies:

• The HIV Action Plan
• The Men’s Health Strategy
• The National Cancer Plan

“These aren’t just words on paper,” she wrote. “They will make real and positive differences to the lives of people in our communities.”

The HIV Action Plan builds on efforts to reduce new transmissions and tackle stigma, while improving access to testing and treatment. The Men’s Health Strategy addresses disparities in life expectancy, mental health support, and late diagnosis of conditions like prostate cancer. Together, they reflect a broader push toward preventive, inclusive healthcare.

Dalton’s approach has consistently centred lived realities — from men reluctant to seek help, to people navigating long-term treatment, to families balancing work and care.

World Cancer Day; And A Personal Reckoning

Launching the Cancer Plan on World Cancer Day was a professional milestone. It was also deeply personal.

“Advocating for reasonable adjustments to allow cancer patients to thrive meant that to continue thriving myself, I have to consider what reasonable adjustments I might make.”

Before becoming a minister, Dalton was elected to represent West Lancashire as a Member of Parliament. That responsibility, she says, remains her priority. But chemotherapy side effects and caring for her elderly mother forced her to confront limits.

“The alternative would likely be more regular trips to Liverpool Aintree, making myself sick and unable to fulfil any of the roles I love.”

In a difficult decision, she chose to step down from her ministerial role and return to the back benches — not as a retreat, but as a recalibration.

“For that reason, I have taken the difficult — but I think correct — decision to return to the back benches.”

Service, Redefined

Dalton is clear: she is not leaving politics. She is not relinquishing her voice.

“I’m not stepping away from public life, the government, or my work as a politician,” she has said. “I’m taking the steps necessary to continue to represent the people of West Lancashire… and I will continue to use my voice to fight for the rights of cancer patients to live as well as they are able for as long as possible.”

A list by Newsweek features World's Best Hospital list in 2026. The list analyzed hospitals across 32 countries, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Also Read: Ashley Dalton Diagnosed With Incurable Breast Cancer Stands Down From Her Position

These countries were also selected using multiple comparability criteria, which also included:

• Population size
• Life expectancy
• Standard of living
• Hospital density
• Availability of reliable data

Out of the 250 hospitals listed by Newsweek, using data from Statista, the hospitals in the United States hold four ranks in the top 10 list.

How Have The Hospitals Been Reviewed?

Each hospital was assessed and scored using four key data sources: recommendations from medical professionals—including doctors, hospital administrators and other healthcare experts—hospital quality metrics, existing patient experience data, and Statista’s Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) Implementation Survey. PROMs are standardized, validated questionnaires completed by patients to evaluate their own functional well-being and overall quality of life.

The 2026 methodology builds on previous editions of the ranking, with Philippines and Turkey included for the first time. This year’s evaluation places greater emphasis on hospital quality metrics, integrates newly available accreditation, safety, quality and patient experience data from multiple countries, and further strengthens the importance of PROMs through increased weighting and an updated Implementation Survey.

More than 2,500 hospitals were evaluated globally, with special distinction awarded to the top 250 institutions. The five highest-ranked hospitals are: Mayo Clinic-Rochester (Rochester, Minnesota); Toronto General-University Health Network (Toronto); Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland); Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset (Stockholm); and Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston).

Access to reliable and transparent data can play a crucial role in guiding healthcare decisions. This ranking aims to serve as a practical reference for patients, families and healthcare leaders seeking trusted insight into some of the world’s most respected medical institutions.

Where Do Indian Hospitals Rank In The List?

Of the 250 list of hospitals, India made it to the list with four hospitals. Medanta - The Medicity ranked at 110, All India Institute of Medical Sciences - Delhi ranked at 115, PGIMER - Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research ranked at 214 and CMC Vellore - Town Campus at 245.