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.

World Malaria Day is observed on April 25 every year to raise awareness of the infection, its causes, symptoms, and prevention strategies. At a time when the heatwave is at its most severe, many fall victim to the misconception that rising temperatures could mitigate infection risk. However, according to Dr Anil Ballani, Consulting Physician in Internal Medicine at Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre, this is just a myth.

What is malaria?

Malaria is a disease transmitted by mosquitoes, mainly female Anopheles mosquitoes, which transmit parasites of the genus Plasmodium. The term ‘malaria’ is derived from the Italian words “ma laria”, which translates to ‘bad air’. Malaria remains one of the major health problems in India, even though the incidence rate has been brought down from 33 million to 3.2 million in the last three decades.

Is malaria only a monsoon concern?

On World Malaria Day, Dr Ballani explained that, contrary to popular belief, malaria is not just a concern during the monsoon season. Unfortunately, it can occur in summer as well. It is well known that malaria incidence is highest during the rainy season due to stagnant water. However, surprisingly, there is also a surge in malaria cases during the summer season. The hot days of summer act as a precursor, as the warm temperature accelerates mosquito breeding. Also, people tend to store water in drums and buckets during the summer due to shortages, and these serve as perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

High temperatures in summer accelerate the mosquito life cycle and maturation, resulting in increased multiplication of larvae. High humidity and high temperatures in summer create ideal conditions for the mosquito life cycle. Faster maturation of the parasite in the mosquito leads to the rapid spread of malaria. Consequently, the risk of malaria transmission also increases. There is often poor vector control prior to the monsoon, as fumigation usually starts after the monsoon sets in.

What makes children vulnerable to malaria?

Schools are closed during the summer, and children venture out more to play. People spend more time in gardens and parks during the early hours of the day and in the evenings due to cooler temperatures, and all this increases their risk of exposure to mosquito bites. Many people travel to their hometowns and villages during holidays when schools are closed, where the incidence of malaria is higher. Due to warm weather, people avoid wearing full sleeves and long clothing, resulting in greater exposure of the arms and legs and increasing the risk of mosquito bites. All these are precursors to a high incidence of malaria in the summer months.

Can malaria diagnosis be delayed?

On World Malaria Day, Dr Ballani answered an important question - can malaria diagnosis be delayed? The expert said that sometimes doctors may delay the diagnosis of malaria because of low suspicion during the summer months. Hence, for proper diagnosis, doctors must maintain a high index of suspicion even during summer months and remain vigilant throughout the year. India aims to eliminate malaria by the year 2030, as guided by the National Framework for Malaria Elimination (NFME), and measures such as maintaining a high index of suspicion will go a long way in making this a reality.

From polio to measles, vaccines have remained one of the most powerful tools in public health, saving six lives every minute, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), as it marked World Immunization Week today.

World Immunization Week is observed every year from April 24 to April 30 to raise awareness about the importance of vaccines for saving lives.

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According to the WHO, vaccines have saved more than 150 million lives over the past 50 years.

"That’s 6 lives every minute, every day, for more than 5 decades," the WHO said.

These lives were saved "not by accident, but because ordinary people made the decision to protect themselves, their children, and their communities from diseases like measles, diphtheria, pertussis, polio, and rotavirus".

Currently, more than 30 life-threatening diseases and infections are prevented by vaccines.

However, 20 million children missed at least one vaccine dose in 2024, leaving far too many at risk of preventable disease.

"Today, newer vaccines against malaria, HPV, cholera, dengue, meningitis, RSV, Ebola, and mpox are saving even more lives, and helping people at every stage of life live longer and healthier thanks to scientific advancements," the WHO added.

Also Read: Delhi Wakes Up To The Hottest Day In 2026 Amid Heatwave; IMD Issues Alert

World Immunization Week: Origin

World Immunization Week was officially endorsed by the World Health Assembly in May 2012 to unify regional vaccination efforts into a single global campaign. Before 2012, it was observed on different days in different countries.

World Immunization Week 2026: Theme

The theme this year is “For every generation, vaccines work”. It promotes how vaccines have safely protected people, families, and communities for generations.

It also calls on countries to sustain and expand vaccination coverage at every age, to safeguard the future.

As the world is at the midpoint of the Immunization Agenda 2030, the priority remains reaching zero-dose children and advancing equity in the hardest-to-reach communities, particularly in countries grappling with conflict, instability, or fragile health systems, the WHO said.

World Immunization Week: The Big Catch-Up

The Big Catch-Up, a campaign launched during World Immunization Week 2023, has been a multi-country effort to address vaccination declines driven largely by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The campaign has delivered over 100 million vaccine doses to an estimated 18.3 million children aged 1 to 5 across 36 countries.

Around 12.3 million were “zero-dose children” who had not previously received any vaccines, and 15 million who had never received a measles vaccine.

The initiative concluded in March 2026 and is on track to meet its target of vaccinating up to 21 million children.

However, agencies like Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi), WHO, and UNICEF warn that many infants still miss out on lifesaving vaccines through routine immunization every year.

"By protecting children who missed out on vaccinations because of disruptions to health services caused by COVID-19, the Big Catch-Up has helped to undo one of the pandemic's major negative consequences," said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization.

In 2024, an estimated 14.3 million infants under the age of one globally failed to receive a single vaccine through routine immunization programmes.

The WHO noted that the global resurgence of measles is a consequence of chronic gaps in routine immunisation.

Measles outbreaks are rising across continents — from Europe to Africa to North America to Australia.

"This surge is driven by persistent gaps in measles vaccination through routine immunization programmes, compounded by declining vaccine confidence in some previously high-coverage communities," the WHO said.

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.

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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