The main cause of death globally is still heart disease. Heart attacks may occur suddenly without any warning signs. However, in the film industry, intense chest pain would be portrayed for a heart attack. In actuality, many patients have slight symptoms that go unnoticed until the time of their heart attack days or even weeks prior to that.

Heart attacks do not always announce themselves with dramatic chest pain. Often, they manifest in subtle, easy-to-dismiss ways. Recognizing these overlooked warning signs and taking proactive steps toward cardiovascular health can save lives. If you or someone you know experiences any of these symptoms, seeking immediate medical care is crucial. Prioritizing heart health today can help prevent life-threatening complications in the future.

Warning Sings of A Heart Attack

1. Discomfort Pressure in the Chest

One of the earliest and most common warning signs of an impending heart attack is pressure, tightness, or fullness in the chest. This pain is not typically sharp and sudden, like most people associate with a heart attack, but it can be intermittent, coming in waves, and lasting for several minutes before fading away. According to the American Heart Association, this is one of the red flags when accompanied by exertion. If you have persistent chest pressure, you should call emergency services immediately.

2. Pain Radiating to Other Parts of the Body

The well-known symptom of chest pain can also manifest discomfort related to a heart attack as pain radiating to other parts of the body. It is not unusual for people experiencing this kind of heart attack to report feeling pain in the shoulders, arms, back, neck, and even jaw. The vagus nerve is one that connects the heart to the brain, abdomen, and neck. The pain may be referred to these regions. In case you experience a sudden, unexplained pain in these regions, especially when exercising, seek a doctor's opinion.

3. Dizziness and Lightheadedness

Feeling dizziness upon standing up quickly or missing a meal is common, but unexplained dizziness often with chest pain or shortness of breath is the first sign of heart attack. Sudden hypotension can seriously decrease the blood supply to the brain and cause dizziness. Dizziness that does not go away on its own should not be ignored.

4. Unexplained Fatigue

It often happens that excessive tiredness, particularly in a busy lifestyle, is considered trivial, but ongoing fatigue, mostly in women, is a predictor of heart failure. According to some studies, extreme fatigue often starts a month before a heart attack, primarily in women. This is simply because the heart cannot pump well enough, leaving insufficient oxygen available to muscles and organs. Consult a healthcare professional if you become increasingly tired over time, yet are getting all the rest in the world.

5. Nausea, Indigestion, or Stomach Pain

Digestive problems like nausea, vomiting, or indigestion are often mistaken for acid reflux or food poisoning. However, these symptoms can also indicate reduced blood flow to the digestive tract, a common precursor to heart attacks. If you experience gastrointestinal distress alongside other symptoms like dizziness or chest discomfort, it's important to seek medical advice immediately.

6. Cold Sweats and Excessive Perspiration

Without apparent reason, a heart attack might be signaled by sudden sweating without any exercise or hot weather conditions. The heart's inability to function properly creates the body's "fight or flight" reaction, which means excessive sweating will occur. Be aware of your body and never ignore a cold sweat, particularly if it coincides with other symptoms.

7. Heart palpitations or irregular heartbeat

A racing or irregular heartbeat can be a normal reaction to stress or caffeine consumption. However, regular or unprovoked heart palpitations may indicate that the heart is under duress. If the heart is not getting enough oxygen-rich blood, it can start to beat irregularly. If you experience palpitations along with dizziness, chest pain, or shortness of breath, you should see a doctor right away.

8. Shortness of Breath

If suddenly climbing stairs or performing other everyday activities becomes a problem, then there may be a heart issue. Shortness of breath usually occurs with heart conditions because the circulation is not adequate and less oxygen is provided to the lungs. This symptom can occur either with or without chest pain and is an important indicator of the presence of underlying heart disease. If you find yourself experiencing sudden unexplained breathlessness, then seek a healthcare provider as soon as possible.

When to Seek Medical Attention

Early detection of these symptoms and early intervention can help avoid a life-threatening heart attack. You should visit a doctor if you feel the following symptoms:

• Symptoms induced by exertion and relieved by rest
• The simultaneous onset of several warning signs, including weakness, dizziness, and nausea
• Personal or family history of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, or smoking

Preventing Heart Attacks: Proactive Steps for Heart Health

Although heart attacks may come out of nowhere, lifestyle plays an important role in reducing a patient's risk; here are some heart-healthy habits to consider:

Take on a Heart-Healthy Diet: Focus on consuming whole foods, lean proteins, healthy fats, and fiber-rich fruits and vegetables. Try to limit processed foods, saturated fats, and added sugars.

Stay Active: Engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity most days of the week to strengthen your heart and improve blood circulation.

Smoking. Smoking is probably the single largest risk factor for heart disease. If you are a smoker, quitting can easily be the single best thing you can do to improve your heart health.

Deal with Stress: Chronic stress leads to heart disease. Relaxed people through various relaxation techniques including yoga, meditation, and even deep breathing, have lesser stresses.

Regular health checks Monitor blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and blood sugar on a regular basis. The risk factors' early detection can help avoid serious complications.

One in four or 25 percent of adults with type-2 diabetes in India also suffer from liver fibrosis, according to an alarming study published in The Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia journal today.

With data from more than 9,000 patients across the country, it is the largest ever real-world survey of liver fibrosis in type 2 diabetes from any low- or middle-income country.

While fatty liver disease has been touted as the most common liver condition among diabetes patients, the new study established liver fibrosis as the real danger among people with high blood sugar.

“Type 2 diabetes is closely linked to fatty liver disease (also known as MASLD). But how common is liver Fibrosis — the real danger — in Indian diabetics? Our answer: 1 in 4 has clinically significant liver fibrosis. One in 20 already has probable cirrhosis. Most had no symptoms. We propose liver fibrosis as the ‘4th major complication’ of diabetes,” said Ashish Kumar, from Ganga Ram Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (GRIPMER), from Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, in a post on social media platform X.

Also read: About 84% IT Employees Are Suffering With Fatty Liver Disease - Why Screenings Are Necessary For Corporate Workers

What Did The Study Find?

Fatty liver is typically the first and reversible stage of liver disease, where excess fat builds up in liver cells. Left untreated, it progresses to liver fibrosis, which is the excessive accumulation of scar tissue (collagen) in the liver resulting from chronic inflammation. The condition then progresses to the third and late stage, irreversible scarring (fibrosis) of the liver. The final stage is liver cancer.

The DiaFib-Liver Study included a total of 9,202 adults with type-2 diabetes patients who underwent FibroScan (VCTE) to assess liver fibrosis in routine diabetes care.

Of these:

• 26 percent had clinically significant fibrosis,
• 14 percent had advanced fibrosis,
• 5 percent had probable cirrhosis
• 65 percent had fatty liver disease.

• obesity
• dyslipidaemia
• kidney problems
• diabetes duration ≥10 years.

Fibrosis: The Screening Target

The study suggested the urgent need to integrate fibrosis screening into national diabetes programs.

“One in four adults with type 2 diabetes in India has clinically significant liver fibrosis and one in twenty already has probable cirrhosis, establishing advanced liver disease as a 'fourth major complication' of diabetes,” said the researchers.

“The DiaFibLiver Study calls for: Fibrosis — not steatosis — as the screening target. FibroScan integration into routine diabetes care. Moving beyond ultrasound-based referral,” Jha said.

“We hope this data from India adds to the global conversation on diabetes and liver disease,” he added.

Also read: The Silent Rise of Fatty Liver Disease: How India-Specific Guidelines Can Help

The findings highlight the urgent need to:

• move beyond steatosis
• systematically integrate fibrosis assessment into routine diabetes care,
• deploy non-invasive tools such as vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE) in community practice
• define screening strategies,
• evaluate therapeutic interventions.

Everyday Habits That Harm the Liver

Certain lifestyle choices can accelerate liver damage, such as:

Overeating processed or fried foods

High sugar intake (soft drinks, sweets, desserts)

Physical inactivity or prolonged sitting

Ignoring health issues like diabetes or hypertension

Crash dieting or taking unprescribed supplements.

How To Improve Liver Health?

Early screening and detection are key to prevent irreversible stages. Yet liver disease can be prevented with lifestyle changes such as:

• Eating a balanced diet with vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and lean protein
• Engaging in at least 30 minutes of exercise daily
• Staying hydrated to help the liver flush out toxins
• Avoiding alcohol and smoking
• Avoiding self-medication and unnecessary pills
• Getting routine health screenings.

New Delhi: Every day, the brain processes hundreds of choices. Most pass unnoticed: what to wear, which route to take, what to eat. But accumulated over hours and across competing demands, this constant decision-making exacts a cost. Decision fatigue is the gradual erosion of the brain’s capacity to make good choices, and over time it affects both mental functioning and physical health. Dr Shivi Kataria, Consultant – Psychiatry, CK Birla Hospitals, Jaipur, addressed the problem of plenty and said that it could take a toll on mental health in certain circumstances.

Read more: India Launches 1st Repository Of Data On Major Psychiatric Disorders

What are the signs?

The earliest signs tend to be emotional. Simple decisions start to feel disproportionately heavy. Choosing between two options takes longer than it should. Irritability surfaces. Tasks that once felt manageable begin to pile up as the mental energy required to engage with them thins. Procrastination, self-doubt, and a general withdrawal from decisions are common responses, with the brain essentially rationing what little capacity remains.

Cognitive symptoms follow. Concentration narrows. Judgement becomes less reliable. Small errors accumulate. People in this state often describe feeling mentally stuck, present in the room but unable to engage with any clarity or momentum.

The physical dimension is frequently overlooked. Headaches, low energy, disrupted sleep, and difficulty sustaining attention are all associated with sustained decision overload. These symptoms register what prolonged mental strain produces in the body and are worth taking seriously.

Who is most at risk?

Decision fatigue affects most people at some point, but the load is not evenly distributed. Professionals in high-responsibility roles, caregivers, and anyone managing multiple competing demands make a disproportionately high number of decisions each day. By the end of a long day, the quality of choices made about food, purchases, relationships, or work often reflects exhaustion more than intention.

Read more: Smartphone Overuse Linked To Rising Risk Of Eating Disorders Among Youth, Study Finds

Is there a solution?

Reducing the number of decisions that require active thought each day is the most direct intervention. Fixed routines for meals, schedules, and recurring tasks remove the need to deliberate repeatedly over the same ground. This is conservation of mental energy, and it compounds over time.

Important decisions are better made earlier in the day, when the brain is rested and cognitive resources are intact. Short breaks during sustained work periods allow partial recovery. Even brief physical activity or deliberate rest between decision-heavy tasks restores some capacity.

The brain has a finite decision-making budget each day. Spending it on low-stakes choices leaves less available for the ones that carry real consequence.

While fevers are often overlooked and brushed aside or even managed with antibiotics — a dangerous trend — an alarmingly nationwide study linked it to infectious diseases with far-reaching consequences.

The report, based on data of over one lakh individuals in India with fever, between 2023 and 2025, showed that these were not vague or self-limiting, but in more than 30 percent or one-third cases had clear links to serious infections, such as dengue, and typhoid.

According to the report by healthcare diagnostics company Thyrocare, the fevers were mostly linked with

• typhoid – in over 18 percent cases
• dengue -- over 14 percent cases.
• Other diseases include malaria, chikungunya, and leptospirosis.

Presence Of Multiple Infections

Importantly, the findings highlighted the presence of co-infections in 10 per cent cases. The most common was a combination of dengue and typhoid.

Dr Preet Kaur, Chief Scientific Officer, Thyrocare, said that a significant number of patients carry serious infections, sometimes more than one at a time, revealing patterns that simple assumptions cannot capture.

"Beyond the visible rise in temperature, laboratory markers highlight hidden stress on organs, from drops in platelet counts to elevated liver enzymes, underscoring that fever is a systemic signal, not an isolated event," she added.

Also read: ‘Breakbone Fever’: US CDC Warns Of Dengue Surge Across 17 Countries

Further, the report noted that dengue positivity declined significantly over the three-year report period, malaria increased despite its lower overall base.

Typhoid and chikungunya rose in 2024 before easing in 2025 but remained present across the testing population.

Also read: Drug Resistance Driving Severe Typhoid Disease, Death Among Children Under-5s in India: Lancet Study

Fever: Men Vs Women

The report noted that more women were affected with typhoid than men. On the contrary, men reported more malaria cases.

More than 32 percent of females had fevers compared to 29 percent of men. Fevers in women was largely driven by higher typhoid detection (21 percent vs 15 percent).

Malaria affected men more than twice as often as women (1.1 percent vs 0.5 percent).

The lab reports also revealed key physiological markers such as platelet counts and liver function among people with fever, dengue, and malaria.

Low platelet levels were seen in

• 27 percent of patients with fever
• 80 percent malaria positive patients
• 37 percent dengue-positive patients

• All fever patients (56 percent) showed elevated SGOT levels and 37 percent SGPT
• Liver stress was seen across patients with dengue, malaria and leptospirosis.

Dengue cases rose throughout the year and typically peaked around October.

Typhoid positivity steadily fell from 2023 to its lowest in 2025. Despite a mild monsoon spike each year, 2025 remained consistently lower overall.

Chikungunya cases rose gradually from lower, volatile levels in 2023, peaked sharply in 2024, and moderated to a softer trend in 2025.

Malaria positivity remained relatively low overall but increased during the monsoon months, with transmission peaking between May and September.

Over the three-year period, malaria positivity rose from 0.5 percent to 1.1 percent, indicating a gradual increase despite its lower overall base.