Strengthening your bones is not something that can happen overnight, it takes years for your body to build strong bones and even then, it is natural for them to lose their dexterity. All you can do is keep your body healthy to make sure it is prepared for any unexpected situations. For years, many older adults have been told to take vitamin D and calcium supplements to keep their bones strong and prevent falls. However, a new report from U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is changing that advice. This report suggests that for most older people, these supplements don't actually prevent falls or broken bones. This might be surprising news, we must understand why falls happen more often as we age, what vitamin D and calcium do in the body, and most importantly, what you can do to stay safe and prevent fractures.

What the Report Says

According to the report, vitamin D supplements don't seem to help prevent falls or broken bones for most people over 60. They also found that these supplements, especially with calcium, might increase the risk of kidney stones. This report doesn't mean people with weak bones (osteoporosis), low vitamin D, or who take vitamin D for other health reasons shouldn't take it. It just means that for most healthy older people, these supplements don't prevent falls and fractures.

Why Older People Fall and Break Bones More Easily

There are many reasons why older people are more prone to breaking their bones. Our bones are strongest when we're in our 20s and 30s, and they get weaker as we age so naturally, they can break easily. It can also be harder to move around as we get older, sometimes because of problems like arthritis this can affect how we walk and make us less steady.

There are also different issues like neuropathy, which is a nerve problem that can also make it harder to feel your feet and keep your balance. Eyesight is also a culprit as it can cause you to feel dizzy and fall. Some medicines can also make people feel unsteady, and older people often take more medicines than younger people. Low vitamin D itself can also increase the risk of falls, so keeping vitamin D levels up is still important.

Better Ways To Protect Your Bone Health

USPSTF recommends a few better ways to protect your bone health and prevent broken bones and falls.

Walk Regularly

Regular walks strengthen your muscles and bones, which helps you stay steady on your feet. It is as simple as practice makes perfect so the more you walk, the better it is. Walking also improves your balance, making you less likely to fall.

Do Strength Training

Strength training, like lifting weights or using resistance bands, makes your bones stronger and helps prevent fractures if you do fall. It is like a safety cushion, but you must be careful while doing so because it can lead to injuries if done too much.

Practice Balance

Activities like tai chi, Pilates, and yoga can improve your balance and coordination, making you more stable and less prone to falls. These can also help you improve your muscle flexibility and strength that in turn helps your body be stronger.

Check Your Medicines

If you have osteoporosis, talk to your doctor about medications that can help strengthen your bones and lower your risk of fractures. Many medications can also have unsavory side effects like weakened joints, losing muscle strength, etc.

Eat Enough Protein

A proper diet goes a long way when it comes to your entire body health. So to keep up with your body’s nutrition and muscle health, eat more protein along with a balanced meal that includes loads of fiber, healthy fats and carbs.

Get Your Eyes Checked

Having poor eyesight can be difficult, not only does it make life difficult without glasses, but it also increases the possibilities of getting into minor accidents like bumping into people and missing objects placed in front of us.

Get Enough Sleep

Getting enough sleep is also important because when you are not sleeping, you get disoriented and can ignore even obvious things like the last stair in the staircase. Make sure you get enough sleep to keep you fresh and focused.

Make Your Home Safe

There are many things that can cause you to have accidents, even in your home. To avoid such falls, make sure there are no lose ends like crooked floor panels, rugs that are sticking out or protruding furniture that can hurt your knees

Many women may come across the term "breast density" following a mammogram, but not all of them fully understand what it implies. The fact that someone has dense breasts does not mean that they have cancer or that they will definitely get it.

On the other hand, greater breast density can be linked to a higher risk of breast cancer and may also make it more difficult to detect certain cancers on a mammogram.

What Is Breast Density?

The breast density is the ratio of fibrous and glandular tissue to fatty tissue in the breast. Dense breast tissue is a normal variation and is especially frequent in younger women. It should be clear that women cannot tell themselves if their breast has dense tissue or not; it has to be assessed using breast imaging, typically a mammogram.

Breast density is usually divided into four types, going from almost all fatty tissue to very dense tissue, and women who have heterogeneously dense or extremely dense breasts are at a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women whose breasts are mainly fatty.

Also read: Alcohol-Linked Cancer Deaths Doubled In US: Colorectal Leads In Men, Breast Leads In Women

What Do Dense Breasts Indicate?

A major concern is that on a mammogram dense tissue appears white, just as many breast abnormalities—some of which are cancers—do too. This makes it harder for radiologists to spot certain abnormalities. Women need not be alarmed if their mammogram report states that their breasts are dense.

Breast density is just one of the factors to take into account when evaluating the risk of breast cancer; family history, age, past breast conditions, genetic mutations, hormonal factors, reproductive history, and lifestyle must also be considered.

It will depend on a woman's total risk level whether or not further screening is needed. Although mammography is still an important method of screening, in certain individual cases a doctor may suggest extra imaging, for example breast ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Such tests are not required automatically for every woman who has dense breasts.

Also read: How Scientists Blocked Drug-Resistant Triple-Negative Breast Cancer With A Two-Step Drug Method

What Should Women Do?

Women should also know what is normal for their breasts. If a new lump is detected, there is a persistent change in the shape or size of the breast, the skin becomes dimpled, the nipple turns inwards, there is an unusual discharge from the nipple or there is ongoing discomfort, then it is advisable to have a healthcare professional look at it. Yet the majority of breast changes are not cancerous and symptoms by themselves are not enough to make a diagnosis.

Lifestyle plays a big role in maintaining breast health. One way of reducing the overall risk of breast cancer is to keep a healthy weight, remain physically active, limit alcohol intake, avoid tobacco, eat a well-balanced diet and stick to the recommended screening programmes.

Women must not regard breast density as a diagnosis. The main point is that women should not be afraid of dense breasts but should understand what this means for them. They must talk to their family doctor about their mammography report and their individual risk factors and then follow a screening programme suitable to their risk.

Breast density is therefore a valid reason for having a screening examination, not one for concern. By understanding breast density and talking to a breast specialist, women can make informed choices regarding screening and make sure that any potential abnormalities are assessed as early as possible.

By Dr. Meghal Sanghavi, Consultant Onco Surgeon, Wockhardt Hospital, Mumbai Central

Teachers are unarguably one of the most important influences during the early stages of a person's life. Along with learning and wisdom, teachers can also influence a child's or adolescent's mental health. Thus, they help shape students who are the future of any society or nation. This impactful profession and its contributions are celebrated worldwide, including in India.

The deteriorating mental health condition in students has escalated into a major global public health concern, heavily accelerated by academic pressure, systemic changes, and digital isolation. The World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and Indian governmental bodies like NCERT have shared data that reveals a grim situation: there is a huge gap between the rising psychological distress among youth and the infrastructure available to support them.

The role of teachers in youth mental health is a topic that the study "A Shelter for the Heart: The Impact of Teacher Quality on Students' Mental Health" has thoroughly analyzed. The research, published in the journal Health Economics in 2026, was conducted in China and included 3,529 Grade 7 students, 86 classrooms, and 43 schools throughout the country. The study examines the impact of teacher quality, proxied by teacher experience, on student mental health.

How Do Teachers Protect Students' Mental Health?

According to the study, the role of the head teacher is particularly important to a student's mental well-being. While subject teachers are primarily responsible for learning, the study emphasizes that experienced teachers might do more than improve grades—they may also help protect students' mental health.

The study finds that the more experienced head teachers tended to build stronger teacher–student relationships, communicate more with parents, and create more supportive classroom environments. They were less likely to ignore or isolate struggling students and more likely to try to help them. All in all, the researchers concluded that school environments play an important role in determining adolescents’ mental health.

Mental Health On Location And Gender

The study “A study on mental health of students teacher in relation to their achievement in education psychology” by researchers at Tamil Nadu Teachers Education University, Chennai, found significant differences in mental health based on gender and location, with female and rural student-teachers reporting better mental health than their male and urban counterparts.

Teacher Distress Linked To Student Mental Health

A 2024 study published in BMC Psychology by researchers from McMaster University, the University of Sydney, the University of Johannesburg and the Hospital for Sick Children examined the relationship between teacher distress and student mental health. The researchers analysed data from 23,568 students and 1,478 teachers across 268 schools in Ontario, Canada. The researchers suggested that supporting teachers’ mental health and creating safer school environments could also benefit students’ well-being.

A 2019 study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders by researchers led by Stephen Harding also suggested that better teacher well-being was associated with better student well-being, highlighting the potential importance of supporting teachers’ mental health within schools.

Teachers Day 2026

Teachers’ Day 2026 in India is celebrated on September 5 to honour the contribution of teachers and educators. The day marks the birth anniversary of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, India’s first Vice President and second President, who was a distinguished philosopher, scholar and teacher. Since 1962, his birthday has been observed as Teachers’ Day in India. The occasion recognises teachers’ role in shaping students’ knowledge, character, confidence and well-being, while inspiring future generations to learn, grow and contribute to society.

Deceased organ donation covers our organ needs. In India, we are woefully short of organs such as kidneys and livers in cases of liver and kidney failure that need to be transplanted.

Deceased donation, as the name sounds, is a donation by people who are brain dead, whose family has now accepted and has willingly donated their organs for the benefit of the rest of the world.

Live donation, on the other hand, is a donation by living or emotionally related individuals who want to donate a kidney to a diseased patient. A live donation is usually transplanted immediately. It's done in the same centre, and both are done together, as the harvesting of the organ from the donor and transplantation are done simultaneously.

On the other hand, a deceased organ from a cadaveric donor may be harvested in a different geographical location and may be transported over time and over a lot of distance to another centre.

Deceased donation can be done for organs that cannot be transplanted by live donation, which are so consequential to a human body, such as the heart, lungs, and pancreas. They are very vital and cannot be transplanted from a live patient to another.

In a deceased organ donation, we can even donate tissues such as the cornea, skin, and blood vessels, which are required as a part of donation, as a part of other organ donation transplant programmes or, for example, in giving vision to people who have a white cornea or corneal opacity.

These are a few differences between live and deceased or cadaveric donation.

Dr. Vikram Shah Batra, Director - Urology, Kidney Transplant and Uro Oncology, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Dwarka