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.

Delhi-NCR locals woke up to the hottest day of the year so far on Thursday - 43 degrees - and it seems that temperatures are likely to rise further over the weekend. The India Meteorological Department has issued a heatwave alert across the country, especially in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, warning that intense summer conditions are approaching.

Heatwave alert in India

India is at present struggling with intense heat due to soaring temperatures in parts of the country. At the same time, mild weather activity like gusty winds and light showers has been observed in some regions, marking the onset of the pre-monsoon phase. Amid this, the IMD has predicted heatwave conditions over north-west India and central India during the next four to five days. East India will also experience the same in the next two to three days.

The IMD predicts that heatwave conditions started over Haryana on April 18 and then gradually reached Uttarakhand, Delhi, and Madhya Pradesh. There is also a chance that people residing in these areas might get some relief from extreme heat in the next two weeks, but the temperature is likely to remain above normal in most parts of the country. In north-eastern states, despite rainfall, the plains are still unlikely to experience a drop in temperature in the coming weeks.

IMD Heatwave Alert

Heatwave warnings have been issued by the IMD for Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. Kerala, Bihar, and Vidarbha have also received the alert. Maximum temperatures are likely to be higher than normal across India, and heatwave conditions will likely continue next week in Punjab, Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Vidarbha. Night temperatures are also likely to increase in Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. Minimum temperatures are also likely to be above normal in these areas.

Rain forecast

Heavy rainfall has also been predicted in the north-eastern region - Meghalaya and Assam are likely to experience strong winds of 50 to 60 km per hour, along with heavy rain, between April 25 and April 27. Similar warnings have been issued for Sikkim and West Bengal. Jammu and Kashmir are also likely to witness light rainfall.

Tips to survive an extreme heatwave

In order to survive a heatwave, doctors recommend some simple tips to help you beat the heat. These are:

1. Avoid going out between 12 noon and 4 pm
2. Avoid stepping out unless it is necessary
3. Drink plenty of water
4. Avoid strenuous activities
5. Close the blinds and avoid sun-facing windows
6. Avoid alcohol
7. Wear light-coloured and lightweight clothing
8. Use sunscreen
9. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables like watermelon and cucumbers
10. Drink coconut water, buttermilk, or other refreshing summer beverages

An international team of researchers has identified a new way by which coronaviruses carried by bats can enter human cells.

Their study, published in the journal Nature, targeted the spike proteins of coronaviruses carried by heart-nosed bats in Kenya.

The team, including those from the universities of Cambridge and York, along with those from the National Museums of Kenya, found that a coronavirus, dubbed CcCoV-KY43, has evolved a new way of binding to human cells. It is different from the mechanism used by SARS-COV-2, the coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.

The virus - Cardioderma cor coronavirus (CcCoV) KY43, or CcCoV-KY43 - can bind to a receptor cell found in the human lung, but testing in Kenya suggests it has not spilled over into the local human population.

“Viral spike proteins are keys that fit into locks (host receptors) to open the door and enter a cell. So far, we have identified one alphaCov receptor. The challenge now is to find the others,” said Professor Stephen Graham in the Department of Pathology at the University of Cambridge, joint senior author of the paper.

CcCoV-KY43 is found in heart-nosed bats, Cardioderma cor, an ecologically important species found mainly in eastern Africa, including in eastern Sudan and northern Tanzania.

The researchers say the zoonotic (animal-to-human) and pandemic potential of alphaCoVs has remained relatively uncharted - to date, only two cellular receptors have been characterized for alphaCoVs.

Read: US CDC Study Showcasing COVID Vaccine Benefits Blocked From Publication

How Did The Researchers Identify The New Mechanism

Rather than work on ‘live’ viruses, the scientists used a public database of known genetic sequences, Genbank, to select and synthesise alphacoronavirus ‘spike’ proteins, including 27 viruses originally isolated in bats, and screened these against a library of coronavirus receptors found in human cells.

Spike proteins protrude from the surface of coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, and bind to specific receptors on human cells, triggering infection.

They showed that CcCoV-KY43 binds to the human glycoprotein CEACAM6.

“Before our study, it was assumed all alphacoronaviruses used just one of two possible receptors to enter their host, and the only difference was which species they could enter. We now know alphaCovs might use a whole variety of different receptors to open cells,” said Dr Dalan Bailey, Group Leader at the Pirbright Institute and joint senior author of the paper.

“Not only did we find the new coronavirus receptor in human cells ahead of any virus spillover into the human population, but the study was performed using just a piece of the virus (the spike) rather than the whole pathogen, negating the need to import a live virus into the UK," added Dr Giulia Gallo, lead author of the paper.

Also read: Bangladesh Measles Outbreak: Meghalaya, Tripura To Ramp Up Vaccination, Boost Surveillance

The study stressed the need for further study in East Africa to better understand the risk from the family of viruses that can use this receptor to enter human cells.

This will help scientists to be better prepared for any spillover of the virus into humans in the future, and potentially begin to develop human vaccines and antivirals.

“We hope our findings will help better understand the risk from the family of viruses we identified that can use the human receptor: for example, by mapping the prevalence of the virus in bats and looking to see if it has already spilled over in at-risk populations,” Graham said.

With the rising measles cases, the US is most likely to lose its measles elimination status, acquired in the year 2000. The reason is in plain sight: the lack of vaccination.

The US recorded 2,288 measles cases last year – the highest number since the disease was declared eliminated in the country 25 years ago. Another 1,748 cases have already been reported this year, so far, raising concerns among experts that the US could lose its elimination status.

However, US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, long known as a vaccine skeptic, who faced intense questioning from several US senators, denied his role. He instead attributed the surge in measles cases in the country to global outbreaks.

Measles Outbreak in US: "I Have Nothing To Do With It", Says Kennedy

According to public health specialists, Kennedy failed to strongly promote vaccination and instead highlighted unproven treatments such as steroids while the virus spread across state lines.

In his opening remarks to the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Ron Wyden criticized Kennedy’s messaging on vaccines, saying: “When it comes to vaccines, Robert Kennedy has used this once-in-a-lifetime platform to make parents doubt themselves and doubt their doctors.”

“The secretary has ducked, bobbed, and weaved without taking the responsibility of saying what needs to be said: vaccines save lives in America,” he added.

However, he replied: “I have not visited Mexico or Europe. I have nothing to do with the measles outbreak. A lot of nations have lost their elimination status; (the) outbreak has nothing to do with me". "The whole world had their worst measles year,” he added.

Noting that he “promoted the measles vaccine”, Kennedy explained that most unvaccinated Americans who contracted measles last year were over the age of 5 years, meaning their parents decided not to vaccinate well before he assumed his role at HHS.

But David L. Hill, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics, said the issue is nuanced.

“When 95 per cent of the population is vaccinated, sporadic cases from outside the country don’t spread as they are doing now, where rates in many communities have fallen below that level,” Hill told CIDRAP News. “So, anyone who is spreading misinformation about the safety or effectiveness of the measles vaccine shares in the responsibility for these outbreaks, especially if they have the ear of the public.

“All of our public health professionals have an obligation now to speak out clearly and forcefully in favor of universal measles vaccination, which we know saves lives.”

Also read: Surging Measles Cases In US Prompting Antivaxxers To Quietly Embrace MMR Vaccine: Report

Senators Probe Kennedy's Role In Childhood Flu Deaths

Further, the senators also questioned Kennedy about his role in childhood flu deaths. As of April 2026, the 2025-26 US flu season has seen 143 pediatric deaths, as per CDC data.

Senator Michael Bennet questioned Kennedy about changes to vaccine recommendations, pointing out that 2025 saw the highest number of childhood flu deaths — 280 pediatric deaths — in modern American history.

“I assume you no longer believe that the flu vaccine is destroying children’s brains, that there’s zero evidence that the flu vaccine prevents any hospitalizations or any deaths, because today, you’re here agreeing that the vast majority of kids that died from the flu were people without vaccines,” Bennet said.

Kennedy replied: “We’re making sure that we follow the science.”

Senator Ben Ray Luján also accused Kennedy of “pushing vaccine misinformation” that predated his tenure and pressed him to explain how he would reduce the number of measles cases and improve the MMR vaccination rate.

“We promote the MMR. We advise every child to get the MMR,” Kennedy said.

Read: US CDC Study Showcasing COVID Vaccine Benefits Blocked From Publication

What Is Measles?

Measles is a highly contagious virus that spreads through direct contact or through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It is a vaccine-preventable disease that can cause devastating complications, including blindness, pneumonia, encephalitis, and long-term immune dysfunction.

Symptoms typically appear seven to 14 days after exposure and may include:

• high fever,
• cough,
• runny nose,
• red eyes,
• rashes across the body.

How To Stay Safe

To safeguard against measles, individuals should

• ensure timely vaccination, especially for children.
• Maintaining good hygiene, such as frequent handwashing and covering the mouth while coughing or sneezing, helps reduce transmission.
• Avoiding close contact with infected individuals and ensuring proper nutrition to boost immunity are also important.