Pakistan continues to be dealing with a polio outbreak as four fresh cases have emerged, pushing the national tally to 37 this year, according to health officials on October 19, 2024. Health officials said that the regional reference laboratory for polio eradication at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad confirmed wild poliovirus type-1 (WPV1) in two children-one from each Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

In recent cases, a girl has been affected from Pishin, and two boys from Chaman and Noshki of Balochistan, and a girl from Lakki Marwat in KP. These are the first detections of the virus within Noshki and Lakki Marwat this year; isolated cases of poliovirus were previously reported within Chaman and Pishin. The province of Balochistan was the worst hit with 20 cases, Sindh had 10, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had five, and Punjab and Islamabad had one case each.

A gigantic fight against polio has been on going in Pakistan- especially in Balochistan and southern KP-over the last two years. Immunisation campaigns have often been suspended or delayed because of local protests, insecurity, and community boycotts. Consequently, quite a number of children did not get the necessary vaccinations, making existing patches of vulnerability for the virus to flow within those pockets.

Noshki, located near Afghanistan's border, and Lakki Marwat have also recently reported some positive environmental samples that confirm the virus is present here, said a local reference laboratory official. Samples of latest cases are currently under genetic sequencing for checking spread of virus and origin.

As the threat of polio continues to grow, Pakistan has vowed to mount a nationwide campaign against it beginning from October 28. With the zeal to tackle the menace in the most effective manner, over 45 million children under the age of five will be vaccinated across the country.

Today, Afghanistan and Pakistan remain one of the few countries where polio has not yet been eradicated. The WHO said the virus remains a potential serious public health threat in areas with low vaccination coverage and weak surveillance.

India On Alert Against Polio

The country declared itself polio-free since 2014 and has kept the disease on bay almost a decade with very robust vaccination programs; however, two cases of vaccine-derived poliovirus cases reported in recent days from Meghalaya create some amount of doubts over a possible resurgence. Experts observe that in India, despite these detections taking place, strong coverage of vaccination at 90-95% and mandatory surveillance measures keep the risk of this widespread outbreak at bay.

The experts point out, however, that such stable situation in India requires continued surveillance. "Countries like Pakistan and parts of Africa remain at a high risk because vaccination rates in those areas are much lower," Dr. Siddharth, public health expert, said. Vaccination is an indispensable act in order to avoid the spread of this incapacitating disease that manifests most importantly as a nervous system affliction leading to the paralysis of a long period.

With concerted efforts from health authorities, there is hope someday that the scourge of polio will be completely eradicated from the face of the earth and future generations will never suffer from its effects.

In a comprehensive study spanning more than five decades, researchers have found that overall deaths due to heart disease in the United States have significantly declined since 1970.

However, the study also points to a concerning rise in mortality from specific non-ischemic heart conditions such as heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, and arrhythmias.

Published online on June 25 in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the research highlights both the gains made in managing ischemic heart disease and the urgent need to address other forms of cardiovascular illness.

66% Drop in Overall Heart Disease Mortality

The study, led by Dr. Sara J. King of Stanford University School of Medicine, analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Vital Statistics System. It focused on U.S. adults aged 25 and older, tracking age-adjusted heart disease mortality rates from 1970 through 2022.

The findings are significant: overall heart disease mortality dropped by 66 percent—from 761 deaths per 100,000 people in 1970 to 258 per 100,000 in 2022. This decline is largely attributed to advances in the treatment and prevention of ischemic heart disease, especially acute myocardial infarctions, commonly known as heart attacks.

The proportion of heart disease deaths attributed to ischemic heart disease also declined sharply. In 1970, ischemic conditions accounted for 91 percent of all heart disease deaths. By 2022, that number had dropped to 53 percent.

Sharp Decline in Heart Attack-Related Deaths

One of the most notable findings was the 89 percent decline in deaths due to acute myocardial infarction.

Mortality from all ischemic heart diseases decreased by 81 percent. These improvements have been credited to better public awareness, improved emergency response systems, lifestyle changes, and the development of more effective medications and medical procedures.

“This evolution over the past 50 years reflects incredible successes in the way heart attacks and other types of ischemic heart disease are managed,” said Dr. King in a statement released with the study.

Rise in Non-Ischemic Heart Conditions

However, not all trends pointed in a positive direction. The same period saw a significant increase—81 percent—in mortality from non-ischemic forms of heart disease. Most notably, the death rate from arrhythmias rose by 450 percent, while hypertensive heart disease and heart failure saw increases of 106 and 146 percent, respectively.

These figures suggest that while the fight against ischemic heart disease has made great strides, the growing burden of other cardiac conditions may require new strategies and interventions.

“The substantial increase in deaths from other types of heart conditions, including heart failure and arrhythmias, poses emerging challenges the medical community must address,” said Dr. King.

Note: The authors of the study acknowledged financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry, a standard disclosure in research of this nature.

The vision of a world where cancer could be detected and treated before it ever causes symptoms—where a simple blood test could reveal the earliest whispers of disease, years before a diagnosis would otherwise be made. It is rapidly moving closer to reality, thanks to pioneering research from U.S. scientists who have demonstrated that blood biomarkers can reveal the presence of cancer more than three years before traditional diagnosis.

Spotting cancer early is one of the most powerful ways to improve survival rates. Tumors caught in their infancy are far more likely to be curable, and treatments can be less aggressive, with fewer side effects. The latest findings, published in Cancer Discovery, suggest that we are on the brink of a new era in cancer screening—one powered by advanced blood tests that can catch cancer in its earliest, most treatable stages.

How Can Blood Reveal the Unseen Caner?

The key to this study lies in circulating tumor DNA, or ctDNA—tiny fragments of genetic material that break off from cancerous cells and float through the bloodstream. Though rare and extremely difficult to detect at low concentrations, these fragments can carry tumor-specific mutations that act as red flags for early cancer development.

Led by oncology researcher Yuxuan Wang and a team at Johns Hopkins University, the study analyzed blood samples from 26 individuals who were later diagnosed with cancer within six months. These were compared with blood samples from 26 cancer-free individuals from the same health study cohort.

Using a combination of sophisticated algorithms and a multi-layered validation system, researchers were able to identify ctDNA signatures associated with cancer in eight of the 26 patients—nearly 31% of those who eventually received a diagnosis. Remarkably, blood samples taken more than three years earlier were available for six of those eight individuals, and in four of those cases, tumor DNA was already present—albeit at levels up to 80 times lower than those detected closer to diagnosis.

Why Is 3 Year A 'Big' Window?

What makes this research truly remarkable is the ability to detect cancer up to three years before clinical diagnosis. For six of the eight positive cases, the researchers had access to even older blood samples—taken 3.1 to 3.5 years before the cancer was diagnosed. In four of these six cases, the same tumor DNA fragments were already present, albeit at levels up to 80 times lower than those detected by the MCED test closer to diagnosis.

This three-year window could be transformative. “Three years earlier provides time for intervention,” explains Wang. “The tumors are likely to be much less advanced and more likely to be curable.” Early detection means more options for patients, less invasive treatments, and a better chance at long-term survival.

Despite these promising findings, there are limitations that need to be addressed before such testing becomes mainstream. The lower the ctDNA levels, the harder they are to detect reliably. Achieving the necessary sensitivity for detecting such minuscule concentrations remains a significant hurdle.

“This study shows the promise of MCED (multi-cancer early detection) tests in detecting cancers very early, and sets the benchmark sensitivities required for their success,” said Dr. Bert Vogelstein, an oncology researcher at the Ludwig Center at Johns Hopkins.

How The Test Impact Future Cancer Treatments?

This research is part of a global movement toward liquid biopsies—blood tests that can detect cancer, monitor its progression, and even guide treatment decisions. Scientists around the world are racing to develop tests that can spot multiple types of cancer from a single blood sample, with some already in clinical trials.

The potential impact is enormous. Early detection could dramatically increase survival rates for many cancers, including those that are often caught late, such as pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancers. It could also reduce the need for invasive diagnostic procedures and make screening more accessible to people everywhere.

If refined and rolled out at scale, blood-based MCED tests could revolutionize cancer screening programs. Current methods, such as mammograms, colonoscopies, and pap smears, are specific to certain types of cancer and often detect issues only after symptoms emerge. A single blood test capable of catching multiple cancers before they manifest could dramatically improve early intervention strategies.

Can Early Detection Prevent Early-Onset Cancers?

Current evidence indicates that early detection and screening can significantly improve cancer survival rates and reduce the need for aggressive treatments, especially for cancers like breast and colorectal cancer when caught early. However, early detection does not prevent the initial development of early-onset cancers—it enables clinicians to identify cancers or pre-cancerous changes at a stage when treatment is more likely to be successful and less invasive.

Researchers say that detecting these cancers before they reach advanced stages could open new doors for targeted prevention strategies, especially for people with a family history of cancer or genetic predispositions. “If early-onset cancers can be caught even before the first symptoms appear, we not only improve survival but also preserve quality of life,” said Dr. Wang.

However, experts caution that while early detection is a critical first step, it must be paired with timely follow-up and interventions tailored to the unique biology of early-onset cancers. Continued research into how these cancers evolve at the genetic and epigenetic levels will be key to refining detection methods and crafting personalized treatment paths.

Prevention strategies—such as lifestyle changes, vaccination, and minimizing risk factors—are essential for reducing the risk of developing cancer in the first place. Early detection, through methods like screening and advanced blood tests, is focused on finding cancer at its most treatable stage, not on preventing its onset. For rapidly growing or aggressive cancers, early detection may still face limitations, as some tumors can develop and spread between screening intervals.

Early detection technologies are powerful tools for improving outcomes and survival but do not prevent early-onset cancers from occurring.

Researchers have discovered that something as simple as weakened grip strength may be an early warning sign of psychosis—a complex mental condition marked by distorted thinking, delusions, and hallucinations. Published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, the study adds to a growing body of evidence that subtle changes in physical functioning, especially motor skills, may be deeply intertwined with brain health and psychiatric conditions.

The findings point to a potential paradigm shift in how clinicians may one day screen for psychosis—by using an everyday, easily measurable physical marker. As mental health professionals and researchers seek better ways to identify and treat psychosis before it fully develops, the humble handgrip test may soon become a vital tool in the psychiatric toolkit.

What is Psychosis?

Psychosis is a term that describes a range of symptoms where a person loses touch with reality. Classic signs include delusions (false beliefs) and hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that aren’t there). However, the journey into psychosis often begins long before these dramatic symptoms appear. Early warning signs can be subtle—changes in behavior, social withdrawal, trouble thinking clearly, or a decline in self-care.

Psychosis typically emerges in late adolescence or early adulthood, but it can affect people at any age. It’s a feature of several mental health disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and severe depression, and can also arise in older adults as a result of neurological conditions like Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease.

The study involved 89 participants recently diagnosed with psychosis (within the past five years), compared with 51 individuals in good mental and physical health. Participants underwent grip strength tests, well-being assessments, and brain imaging scans.

Not only did those with psychosis show significantly lower grip strength, but this weakness was also tied to changes in the brain's default mode network—a complex system that becomes active during rest, daydreaming, or inward-focused thoughts. Researchers found that lower grip strength correlated with reduced connectivity in three key brain regions:

• The anterior cingulate cortex,
• The sensorimotor cortex, and
• The cerebellum.

All three play vital roles in motor function, cognition, and emotion. When connectivity among these regions decreased, so did physical grip strength and overall psychological well-being.

Why A Strong Grip Strength Important?

Grip strength has long been recognized as a general indicator of health. Lower grip strength is associated with higher mortality risk, reduced quality of life, and poorer day-to-day functioning. But its connection to mental health—and specifically to psychosis—is a new and important insight.

“Grip strength seems to capture that things are not going well, but it hasn’t been well studied in relation to brain function or early psychosis,” said Dr. Alexandra Moussa-Tooks, senior researcher and assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at Indiana University.

The study’s findings suggest that changes in grip strength may reflect underlying disturbances in brain network function—what researchers call “resting-state functional connectivity.” In other words, the physical symptom of a weakening grip could be a visible sign of invisible changes happening in the brain.

While it may seem far-fetched to connect your ability to open a pickle jar with your mental stability, grip strength is increasingly being recognized as a proxy for overall health—both physical and cognitive. Past research has linked low grip strength to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, frailty, depression, and even early mortality.

This new study takes it a step further by linking grip strength to resting-state functional connectivity in the brain—a measure of how different parts of the brain interact when a person is not actively doing a task. The less synchronized these connections, the more likely a person is to experience disturbances in thought, behavior, and even basic physical abilities.

Dr. Heather Burrell Ward, lead author and assistant professor of psychiatry at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said the findings "identify potential brain targets for new treatments for psychosis," including the possibility of using magnetic brain stimulation or exercise to strengthen neural connections.

Symptoms of Psychosis

“If Psychosis Is a Fire, Symptoms Are the Smoke”

Traditionally, treatment for psychosis has focused on managing the “smoke”—the overt symptoms like delusions and hallucinations. But as Dr. Moussa-Tooks explains, “If psychosis is a house on fire, symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations are the smoke. In a fire you don’t target the smoke, you target the fire and its source. And yet, currently that’s not how we approach treatment for psychosis.”

Motor disturbances, such as reduced grip strength, may be among the earliest signs that something is amiss in the brain. Because these changes are more fundamental and easier to measure than complex cognitive symptoms, they could help clinicians identify and address psychosis at its source—potentially before full-blown symptoms develop.

What Causes Psychosis?

Psychosis is a complex condition with no single cause. It arises from a combination of genetic vulnerability, brain development differences, and environmental stressors or trauma. While it can be a symptom of mental illnesses like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, it can also occur independently or as part of physical illnesses, particularly in older adults.

Recognizing early warning signs—whether behavioral, emotional, or physical—can make a crucial difference in outcomes. Early intervention is associated with better long-term recovery and improved quality of life.

Could a handgrip test become a new mental health screening tool? The researchers believe it's possible.

“Grip strength and other motor functions are easily assessed and more readily interpretable than complex tasks often used to study psychosis,” said Moussa-Tooks. “Our work shows that these simple metrics could have profound implications in early detection and treatment.”

Such early detection tools are especially critical, as earlier intervention in psychosis typically leads to better outcomes. The current model, which relies heavily on self-reported symptoms or behavioral changes, is reactive and often too late.

As science continues to uncover the deep connections between brain and body, one thing becomes increasingly clear—sometimes, holding on tightly might be the very first step to staying mentally well.