This is the story of Joseph, a 28-year-old man who's made a very difficult choice. On December 2024, Joseph Awuah-Darko shared the difficult decision of choosing euthanasia on Instagram. He's not physically sick, but he's been battling a severe mental illness called bipolar disorder for many years. He's tried many treatments, but nothing has helped him feel better. He feels like the pain of his illness is too much to bear. He's shared his story publicly to help people understand what he's going through and to show how serious mental illness can be. Joseph shared a post that explained why he is making this decision, in the caption of the post he shared, “I am not saying that life (as a phenomenon) isn’t worth living. It ABSOLUTELY is. What I am saying is that the mental weight of MINE has become entirely unbearable.”

Joseph has bipolar disorder, which means his moods swing very high and very low. He's had this illness for a long time, and it makes his life very difficult. On his Instagram, he has shared his journey with bipolar, he explained that he tried many different medicines and therapies, but they haven't worked. He feels constant pain and suffering because of his illness. He's reached a point where he feels like he can't go on anymore. He's been open about his struggles on social media, hoping to raise awareness about mental health. He wants people to understand how much he suffers and why he's made this decision.

Euthanasia in the Netherlands

Government of the Netherlands explain that in the Netherlands, it's legal for a doctor to help someone end their life if they meet certain conditions. This is called euthanasia. Joseph has applied for this because he feels his mental illness is causing him unbearable suffering. There are rules and procedures that doctors must follow. They have to make sure the person understands their decision and that there are no other options. The process can take a long time, sometimes years. Joseph believes that having the option of a peaceful and dignified death is important. He wants to have control over how his life ends.

The Last Supper Project

When Joseph shared his decision, people had many different reactions. Some people understood and supported him. Others were sad and hoped he would change his mind. He even received some negative comments. But he also received many kind messages, including invitations to have dinner. This inspired him to start "The Last Supper Project," where he travels and shares meals with strangers. In the caption he explained, “‘The Last Supper Project’ is based on the Harvard Study of Adult Development which speaks to the importance of quality relationships and community as the greatest predictor for happiness. And I feel connecting this way around food as a great unifying vessel could be beautiful.”

The Last Supper Project is one of the longest studies, lasting for more than 80 years, done on adult development. In an Author Speaks edition of McKinsey & Company, the study’s director Robert Waldinger explained the study wanted to know what helps people have happy and healthy lives, even if they had problems when they were young. Most studies only looked at what goes wrong, but this one wanted to know what goes right. The study emphasizes that it is never too late for positive changes. People often believe they are too old or incapable of forming good relationships. They may think happiness is out of reach. However, the study has observed individuals who found happiness unexpectedly.

Joseph wants to connect with people and enjoy these moments while he waits for his euthanasia request to be approved. He sees these dinners as a way to find joy and connection in his final chapter. He still has bad days, but he finds comfort in these shared experiences.

Delhi woke up again to a thick layer of smog, with Delhi's AQI hovering over 300 on the Air Quality Index on Thursday morning under "very poor" category. After a long nine-day wait, city's AQI had slipped under "poor" category on Tuesday, but it is again back on the "very poor" category, while on Wednesday, there were strong winds that dispersed the pollutants. Yet the condition of the air quality remains bad.

As a result of this many people are leaving the city, or have at least considered leaving the city.

"I Felt Breathless And Constantly Fatigued"

Nikita Singh, 31, who runs a remote PR boutique agency was living in Delhi on and off for two years because it was two years back when she struggled to breathe during Delhi winters. "The pollution levels were so extreme that I felt breathless and constantly fatigued. That was the first time I seriously questioned whether I could continue living here long-term," she says.

For the first two years, she kept "oscillating". "I would stay in Delhi for work during peak months, then leave when pollution became unbearable, especially from November to January. Every return felt heavier. I had my eyes burning, headaches, chest tightness and a general feeling of 'I cannot do this forever'."

She has now permanent moved away from Delhi to Jodhpur, in Rajasthan, where she works remotely. However, it has not been easy on her. "Emotionally, it was tough because Delhi had become familiar, and my life and work circle were mostly based there," she says. However, thanks to her fully remote work and that fact that she had decided to prioritize her health, she was able to make the move.

She says that Jodhpur offers the cleaner air which she "never felt in Delhi". Her decision to move also came with her family uprooting from Delhi. "My family and I shifted together. AQI was a major trigger. We realized we could not keep exposing ourselves to those levels of pollution year after year," she reveals.

Migration And Pollution: More Delhiites Are Considering To Move Out Of The City

She is not alone, Vikash Makkar, a freelance linguist specialist and a journalist, who had been living in Delhi from the last 12 years, moved back to his hometown in Jamshedpur. "Since October with an unplanned journey, I moved to my hometown and have been living there. It is quite relaxed here as compared to Delhi's ongoing pollution crisis that I had faced," he shares.

29-year-old Riya Baibhawi also uprooted from the city. She had been living in Delhi from last 5 years. She is currently living in Ludhiana, Punjab, and her decision to leave city is also affected by the pollution. Though, it was not easy for her. "It was very tough because it was very difficult to find career opportunities with competitive salaries outside Delhi-NCR. It also required a cut down of my social life, which adversely affected my mental health," she says. She shares that one of her friends, who had been living in Noida for the last 20 years had also moved out as pollution exacerbated her asthma.

Another family, who have been living in Delhi's Karol Bagh for more than two decades now are considering moving out of Delhi. "They are looking for properties outside Delhi where air is cleaner," shares their 26-year-old daughter who now lives in her marital home in Noida.

As per a survey by a consumer insights platform Smytten PulseAI, about 34.6% of the residents surveyed in Delhi NCR have considered to move out of the city due to worsening air. A 2023 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health shows that if the level of PM2.5 increases by 10µg/m3, migrants coming into the city will be reduced by 21.2%. While migration in the city has been ongoing, pollution does show some strains of people moving out of the city.

As per the Air Quality Life Index released by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC), the fine particulate matter or PM2.5 in air will shorten an average Indian's life expectancy by 5.3 years, and in Delhi, it could shorten a person's life span by 11.9 years. However, the Union government has said in the parliament that there is "no conclusive national data to establish a direct correlation between deaths or diseases occurring exclusively due to air pollution". This statement comes at a time when doctors themselves noted a surge in cases due to pollution and have urged people to leave the cities.

The internet is obsessing with the idea that Japan has a fat law, it fines people for being "fat". Talk about sensational headlines, mistranslations, and social media exaggerations. But what does Japan's so-called 'fat law' actually say? Does it really change anything?

Health and Me did a closer fact check on Japan's Fat Law, and here is what we found.

Japan's Metabo Law: What It Really Means?

In 2008, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare introduced the Metabolic Syndrome Countermeasures Promotion Law, which was popularly nicknamed the 'Metabo Law'. the word 'metabo' comes from metabolic syndrome, a cluster of high-risk conditions that include elevated blood pressure, high blood sugar, abnormal cholesterol, and excess fat around the waist. If left untreated, this could increase the risk of heart attacks, stroke and diabetes.

The law's main focus is on identifying these risks as early as possible. As part of Japan's long-standing annual health check tradition, about 50 to 56 million adults aged 40 to 74 undergo this mandatory waist measurements every year. The waistline thresholds are:

• 85cm for men
• 90cm for women

While the numbers are not arbitrary, they match the International Diabetes Federation's guidelines used to screen metabolic risks.

Is It Illegal To Be Overweight In Japan?

The Times-Union fact check confirms: "Japanese citizens cannot be fined or imprisoned for being overweight". RosePlus Japan also reports that the term "fat tax is a mistranslation and that "it is not illegal to be fat in Japan".

The law does not:

• Fine individuals for their weight
• Send people to jail for being overweight
• Deport or deny visas based on size
• Ban obese people

How Does The Law Actually Work?

The law basically shifts the responsibility away from individuals to governments and employers.

Annual measurement: Employers and local authorities measure the waistlines of eligible adults.

If someone exceeds the limit:

• They are offered counseling, health guidance, and follow-ups.
• After three months, progress is reviewed.
• After six months, they may receive additional health education.

No individual penalties: There is no fine for not losing weight.

Employer penalties:

• If a company fails to reduce the percentage of employees at risk, it may face increased contributions to national healthcare funds.
• Companies like NEC previously estimated potential fines of up to $19 million for not meeting targets

This structure makes the Metabo Law more of a workplace wellness mandate than a personal weight regulation.

Lost In Translation

Much of the misunderstanding comes from how Japanese concepts were translated in English. With the word "law" being reported internationally, it implied a strict legal prohibition.

"Metabo" was incorrectly equated was being "fat", losing its medical meaning.

Was The Law Successful?

• Japan already had one of the lowest obesity rates in the world, around 3.5 percent in 2009, compared to over 30 percent in many Western countries.
• Life expectancy in Japan has remained among the highest globally.
• However, obesity rates among men (based on BMI 25+) reportedly continued rising, reaching 31.7 percent in 2022 according to The Japan Times, as cited in the HR Digest analysis

However, there have been things that changed since 2008. This includes companies offering nutrition workshops, physical activity support, health check programs for employees and their families. The annual health checks are now more structured. People flagged for metabolic syndrome were connected with counselling and monitoring, which can reduce long-term medical costs. The conversation has now also shifted towards body autonomy, public health and role of employers in personal wellness.

In a what doctors call an "exceptionally rare event', a Michigan man has died of rabies after receiving a kidney from a donor who was unknowingly infected with the virus. A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gives information on how this rare medical event took place, with a surprising chain of exposures that vegan with a skunk scratch.

A Routine Kidney Transplant That Took a Sudden Turn

The Michigan patient underwent a kidney transplant at an Ohio hospital in December 2024. For several weeks, he seemed to be recovering normally. About five weeks after the procedure, he suddenly developed worrying symptoms such as tremors, weakness in his lower limbs, confusion and urinary incontinence. His condition deteriorated quickly and he was admitted to the hospital, soon requiring ventilation. Despite treatment, he passed away. Postmortem tests confirmed that he had rabies, a diagnosis that shocked doctors since his family said he had not been around any animals.

The Donor’s Skunk Encounter Comes to Light

The unexpected diagnosis pushed doctors to take another look at the kidney donor, a man from Idaho. In the Donor Risk Assessment Interview, he had mentioned that a skunk had scratched him. At the time, this detail did not raise major concern. When investigators spoke to the donor’s family again, they learned more about the incident. A couple of months before his death, the donor had been holding a kitten in a shed on his rural property when a skunk approached and behaved aggressively. He stepped in to protect the kitten and managed to knock the skunk unconscious. Before that happened, the animal scratched his shin deeply enough to draw blood. He believed he had not been bitten, and the incident was never viewed as a medical emergency.

The Donor’s Rapid Decline

Around five weeks after the skunk encounter, the donor began showing symptoms that closely resemble rabies. He became confused and had trouble swallowing and walking. His family said he experienced hallucinations and complained of a stiff neck. Two days later, he was found unresponsive at home after what was believed to be a cardiac arrest. He was resuscitated and hospitalized but never regained consciousness. He was declared brain dead after several days, and his organs, including his left kidney, were donated.

What Investigators Found

Once rabies was detected in the kidney recipient, authorities examined stored laboratory samples from the donor. These tests were initially negative. However, kidney biopsy samples revealed a strain that matched silver-haired bat rabies. This finding suggested that the donor had in fact died of rabies and unknowingly passed the virus to the transplant recipient.

Investigators believe a likely three step transmission occurred. A bat infected a skunk, the skunk infected the donor, and the donor’s kidney infected the recipient. The CDC noted that only three other cases of rabies transmission through organ transplantation have been reported in the United States since 1978.

Steps Taken to Protect Other Recipients

Three other people had received cornea grafts from the same donor. Once the risk was identified, the grafts were removed and all three individuals received Post Exposure Prophylaxis. They remained healthy and showed no symptoms.

A Reminder of Rare but Real Risks

Rabies is not routinely tested for in organ donors because human cases are extremely rare and difficult to diagnose. In this situation, the donor’s earlier symptoms were attributed to existing health conditions. Speaking to the New York Times, Dr Lara Danziger-Isakov said the case was exceptionally rare and reminded the public that the overall risk to transplant recipients remains very small.