The winter season compels us to sit at one place, under the blanket, at the ease of warmth. But aren't we all aware of the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle? And when it is winter, it makes it more so stagnant. Not just that, but now a new study from the University of Iowa says that being a couch potato could lead to 19 chronic conditions. Among the 19 chronic conditions, obesity, diabetes, depression and heart diseases also made it to the list.

Research shows that among many diseases, increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, unhealthy cholesterol levels that leads to metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease and cancer are also there. This is why any extended sitting whether at desk, behind the wheel or the screen can be harmful.

How was the study conducted?

The team of researchers from various departments at the University of Iowa conducted a detailed study where they analyzed records from over 40,000 patients at a major Midwestern hospital system. In the records, they looked at the extensive physical inactivity of these patients and how it impacted their overall health.

The study and the detailed analysis is published in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease and studies.

As part of conducting the study, a 30-second exercise survey was conducted. Then, patients were also asked two questions: how many days per week they engaged in moderate to vigorous exercise and for how many minutes per session? On the basis of response, the patients were categorized into three groups:

• Inactive - 0 minutes per week
• Insufficiently active - 1-149 minutes per week
• Active - 150 minutes per week

As per Lucas Carr, associate professor in the Department of Health and Human Physiology and study's corresponding author, "This two-question survey typically takes fewer than 30 seconds for a patient to complete so it does not interfere with their visit. But it can tell us a whole lot about that patient's overall health."

What did the study find?

The study got 7,261 responses, and it found that around 60% of them met the recommended guidelines for exercising. These people met the 150 minutes or more minutes of moderate exercise per week. However, almost 36% exercised less than 150 minutes per week and 4% reported no physical activity.

The study also found that people experienced lower rates of depression. 15% of people who exercise for 150 minutes or more, or at least for some amount of time could experience depression, as compared to 26% of those who are inactive. Similarly, for obesity, the numbers are 12% versus 21% for obesity, 20% versus 35% for hypertension and the similar trend was seen in other diseases, and markers of good health, including lower resting pulse rates, and cholesterol profiles.

Patients with no physical activity carried a median of 2.16 chronic conditions, this number was 1.49 conditions in insufficiently active patients and dropped to 1.17 in active patients.

The 19 chronic conditions are:

• Obesity
• Live disease
• Psychoses
• Chronic Lung disease
• Neurological seizures
• Coagulopathy (blood clotting disorder)
• Depression
• Weight loss issues
• Uncontrolled hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Controlled hypertension
• Uncontrolled diabetes
• Anemia deficiency
• Neurological disorder affecting movement
• Peripheral vascular disease
• Auto Immune Disease
• Drug Abuse
• Hypothyroidism
• Congestive heart failure
• Vulvar disease (heart valve problem)

Higher temperatures in the US could increase heat-related heart disease by 200 per cent by 2050, according to an alarming study.

The research, published in JAMA Cardiology, predicts rising temperatures driven by climate change will dramatically increase heat-related heart disease in the US.

It is already known that extreme heat is detrimental to heart health and can potentially trigger heart attacks and other cardiovascular events.

"But this study is the first to map out exactly how bad the problem could get—county by county, across the US. It also highlighted how states with lower median household incomes are likely to face higher heat-related heart disease burden," said Gokul Parameswaran, research associate at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine's Cardiovascular Research Institute and the study's lead author.

Regional Hot Spots

Researchers analyzed heart disease data in each county in the contiguous US from 2010 to 2016 to develop projections through 2050.

They found that the Pacific Northwest has the highest heat-related heart disease rate in the country. Southern states, however, are projected to see the steepest increases by 2050.

"Climate change is not just an environmental issue—it is a health equity crisis, and prioritizing vulnerable communities must be at the center of any heat mitigation strategy," said Salil Deo, associate professor in the Department of Surgery.

Also read: Global Temperatures Likely To Stay Near Record Levels For Next Five Years: WMO

The study also found that aging — independent of temperature increases — will contribute an additional 34 per cent increase in heat-related heart disease by 2050, simply because there will be more older adults by then.

Heat Events In The US

The study comes amidst more frequent heat events in the US, which is also lasting longer, and the temperatures during heat events are going up.

The past 10 years, from 2015 to 2024, were the hottest on record globally. But in cities across the United States, the average rate of extreme heat events increased from two per year in the 1960s to 10 per year between 2010 and 2020, according to Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES), a Washington-based NGO.

Also Read:‘Heat Dome’ Triggering Record-Breaking May Temperatures In France, UK, Spain

Additionally, as of 2024, the average length of heat-wave season in the US has increased by 46 days since the 1960s.

How Does Heat Raise Heart Risks?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, when temperatures rise, the heart must work harder to keep the body cool, and the likelihood of developing sudden clots in the bloodstream increases.

Read More: Can Extreme Heat Trigger Heart Palpitations? Expert Explains Risks

This extra stress on the heart due to high heat may lead to heart attacks or sudden worsening of heart disease, especially in the elderly or those with prior heart conditions.

How To Tackle The Risk

• Expanding green spaces and tree cover in urban areas could help reduce temperature-related adverse effects.
• Expanding access to cooling centers and air-conditioning assistance programs for low-income communities can also help bridge the gap in underserved communities.

"Climate change is not a distant, abstract threat," said Sanjay Rajagopalan, director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute and chief of Cardiovascular Medicine at University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute.

"It is a present and growing danger to the hearts of every American, and it is coming for the most vulnerable among us first. The choices made today about greenhouse gas emissions, urban planning, and health care policy will determine whether tens of thousands of Americans live or die from heat-related heart disease by 2050," he added.

Amid increasing contamination and adulteration of food products, India’s food regulator has introduced new safety standards across a wide range of foods such as besan (gram flour), edible and cold-pressed seed oils, as well as prawns.

The draft regulations by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) cover heavy metals, toxins, antibiotic residues, and quality standards for both commonly used foods and emerging edible products, the Times of India reported.

The new regulations are expected to come into force on December 1.

What Has Changed Under The New Rules?

Under the new rules, the FSSAI has:

• Expanded contamination standards related to lead and cadmium to include pulse flours such as besan and packaged mixes in addition to pulses.
• Updated limits for aflatoxins — toxic substances produced by certain fungi — in oils, oilseeds, and ready-to-eat oilseed products.
• Revised testing norms for arsenic in fish oils and updated standards for saffrole, a naturally occurring substance found in foods and beverages containing nutmeg and mace.
• Introduced residue limits for antibiotics such as trimethoprim and oxolinic acid in seafood products, including shrimps, prawns, and fishery products.

New Standards For Seed Oils And Edible Seeds

In a separate draft notification, the FSSAI proposed quality and safety standards for lesser-used edible oils made from chilli, tomato, muskmelon, and okra seeds as demand rises for cold-pressed oils, seed-based snacks, and plant-based nutrition products.

The proposed norms require these oils to remain free from adulteration, harmful impurities, rancidity, and mineral oil contamination, while also prescribing limits for moisture, acidity, and metal content.

Also read: Can Beetroot Juice Help Lower Blood Pressure?

The draft rules also cover edible seeds such as watermelon, cucumber, pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, and flaxseed sold in raw, roasted, or salted forms, requiring them to be clean and free from insects, fungus, and visible contamination before sale.

FSSAI has invited public comments on the draft regulations for 60 days before finalization.

Crackdown On Food Adulteration

In Ghaziabad, the state food regulator seized 10 quintals of suspected paneer stored in unhygienic conditions. With contamination risks high, the joint team swiftly sampled the batch and destroyed the entire 1,000 kg consignment.

In Muzaffarnagar, food safety officials inspected an ice cream outlet. The drive focused on ice creams and ice candies to ensure they met regulatory standards. A total of three legal samples were collected.

Read More: Are Mangoes Safe for Oral Cancer Patients?

How Adulterated Foods Can Affect Your Health?

The FSSAI noted that hidden adulterants in everyday food can create serious concerns for consumers.

Food adulteration happens when there is an intentional addition of foreign or inferior substances to original food products.

A 2024 study published in SAGE Open Medicine noted various health impacts of adulterated food, including:

• Cancer
• Lathyrism
• Liver disease
• Cardiac failure
• Kidney disease
• Nervous system-related diseases

The study also noted that adulteration could lead to allergic reactions. Pregnant women, children, and the elderly are more prone to developing illnesses if adulterated food is consumed.

Do you smoke herbal cigarettes believing they are “natural”, “chemical-free”, and “tobacco-free”? You may be mistaken. New research, ahead of World No Tobacco Day 2026, has raised concerns over the growing popularity of herbal cigarettes, suggesting that herbal cigarettes are not safer than conventional cigarettes and may be equally harmful to health.

The new joint study by the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), US, has found that herbal cigarettes can produce emissions comparable to — and in some cases more harmful than — those generated by tobacco cigarettes.

The study, published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, highlight significant health concerns surrounding herbal smoking products, many of which currently fall outside India’s primary tobacco control laws.

Leaf-wrapped Herbal cigarette Most Hazardous

The study compared emissions from two of India’s best-selling tobacco cigarette brands and four popular herbal cigarette varieties containing ingredients such as basil, clove, cinnamon, mint, green tea, water lily, and chamomile.

Two of the herbal products also used tendu (ebony) leaves as wrappers — the same material commonly used in bidis, India’s most consumed smoking product.

Also read: Global Temperatures Likely To Stay Near Record Levels For Next Five Years: WMO

Researchers analyzed the physical, chemical, and oxidative properties of mainstream smoke generated from the products. According to the study, herbal cigarette smoke released extremely fine particles and toxic compounds at levels similar to or exceeding those found in tobacco smoke.

“Our findings challenge the widely held belief that tobacco-free means risk-free. Emissions from herbal cigarettes are comparable to or exceed those from tobacco cigarettes on nearly every metric we measured. Leaf-wrapped herbal variants turned out to be the most hazardous of all the samples tested,” said Prof. Sameer Patel, Assistant Professor at IITGN’s Department of Civil Engineering and Chemical Engineering.

Fine Particles And Oxidative Stress

Further, the researchers combusted each cigarette inside a sealed automated two-chamber system designed to mimic human inhalation patterns, to decode particle size, chemical composition, and oxidative potential.

Shockingly, the team found that particles smaller than 500 nanometers — associated with cardiovascular and respiratory diseases — were emitted at nearly 20 per cent higher concentrations in herbal cigarette smoke compared to tobacco smoke.

The study also measured the “oxidative potential” (OP) of smoke particles — a marker of their ability to generate reactive oxygen species that contribute to inflammation, lung damage, and vascular disease.

According to the researchers, particulate matter from herbal cigarettes showed significantly higher oxidative potential than tobacco cigarettes. Tendu-leaf-wrapped variants recorded OP levels nearly 49 per cent higher than paper-wrapped products.

Notably, one basil-filled herbal cigarette marketed as “100% natural” and “chemical-free” showed the highest lead concentration among all products tested.

Prof. Vishal Verma, Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering at UIUC and co-author of the study, said the results are particularly significant because many consumers believe nicotine-free products are less harmful.

“That finding is important because many consumers associate nicotine-free products with reduced harm,” he said.

Concerns Over Regulatory Gaps

Read More: Can Sugary Drinks Cause Brain Aging?

Researchers also pointed to regulatory loopholes surrounding herbal cigarettes. India’s Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, regulates tobacco products through health warnings, advertising restrictions, and public smoking rules. However, many products marketed as tobacco-free do not fall under the same regulatory framework.

Lead author Dr. Alok Kumar Thakur said several herbal cigarette brands claim therapeutic benefits, including relief from cough, anxiety, and sleep problems, despite limited scientific evidence on their safety.

“However, there is limited scientific evidence evaluating the emissions and toxicological impacts of these products,” he said.

The findings also align with the World No Tobacco Day 2026 under the theme, “Unmasking the appeal: countering nicotine and tobacco addiction.”

The researchers stressed the urgent need for evidence-based regulation and stricter oversight of alternative smoking products to prevent misleading health claims and protect public health.