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

In India, more than one in four people has hypertension, and cumulatively, over 90 per cent of adults with hypertension are either undiagnosed, untreated, or treated but still live with uncontrolled blood pressure. Experts say this growing burden needs urgent attention.

In an interview with HealthandMe on World Hypertension Day 2026, Professor Vivekanand Jha, Executive Director of The George Institute for Global Health, suggested that one practical solution may be as simple as switching to potassium-enriched low-sodium salt substitutes (LSSS).

Current estimates show that Indians consume between 8 and 11 grams of salt (equivalent to 3.2–4.4 grams of sodium) per day — nearly double the World Health Organization recommended limit of 5 grams of salt (2 grams of sodium).

Low-sodium salt substitutes are composed of approximately 70–75 per cent sodium chloride and 25–30 per cent potassium chloride. They reduce sodium intake while increasing potassium consumption, helping lower blood pressure and reduce cardiovascular risk.

In January 2025, the World Health Organization released guidelines recommending potassium-enriched salt substitutes to combat hypertension and related heart risks. The guidelines suggest replacing regular table salt, which is high in sodium, with potassium-enriched alternatives that may help reduce noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease by lowering blood pressure.

Dr Jha was also part of a consensus statement released by experts in clinical medicine, public health, and nutrition, recommending potassium-enriched low-sodium salt substitutes as an effective intervention to reduce hypertension and cardiovascular disease in India.

Here are excerpts from the interview:

Q. Is asking people to simply switch to a healthier salt more realistic than expecting them to completely change their diets?

Dr Jha: Public health works best when solutions fit naturally into people’s daily lives. Asking families to completely change what they eat is extremely difficult because food habits are emotional, cultural, and built over generations. But asking them to switch the type of salt they use at home is a much simpler and more achievable step. The taste remains familiar, cooking habits do not change, and yet the health benefits can begin immediately.

In a country like India, where a large proportion of sodium intake comes from salt added during cooking, this becomes a very practical intervention. It is not about perfection — it is about finding solutions that ordinary families can realistically adopt and sustain. There are, of course, other dietary factors that also need attention, such as excessive sugar intake, processed foods, and poor fruit consumption.

Q. High blood pressure medicines are often prescribed quickly. Are doctors giving enough importance to simple dietary changes like switching to healthier salt, or is prevention still underestimated?

Dr Jha: The answer is a definite no.

Our healthcare system is designed around managing disease once it appears, rather than reducing people’s need to come to hospitals by preventing disease in the first place.

Also read: Can Hantavirus Spread Through Semen And Breast Milk? What Experts Say

In a busy clinic, physicians often have only a few minutes with each patient, making detailed dietary counselling difficult. At the same time, advice like “eat less salt” can feel abstract or impractical for many patients. There are also systemic incentives that prioritize medicines over preventive care.

We need much stronger integration of nutrition and prevention into routine medical practice. If we truly want to reduce the burden of hypertension and its complications — including cardiovascular disease, stroke, and chronic kidney disease — prevention cannot remain an afterthought.

Q. Low-sodium salt may not suit some people with kidney disease or those on certain medicines. How can these risks be managed without discouraging the wider population from benefiting?

Dr Jha: This is an important conversation and needs to be handled responsibly and transparently. There is a small group of patients — particularly some people with advanced kidney disease or those on specific medications — for whom excess potassium may not be appropriate.

However, for the vast majority of the population, including many people with early-stage kidney disease, low-sodium salt substitutes are safe and beneficial. We have repeatedly shown this through modelling studies.

The challenge is ensuring that a legitimate caution for one group does not unintentionally discourage everyone else. That is why clear labelling, better awareness among healthcare professionals, and honest public communication are essential. Public health decisions are often about balancing risks and benefits, and in this case, the potential population-level benefits are very significant, including for a large majority of patients with chronic kidney disease.

Read More: Heart Diseases, Mental Disorders And Cancer Among 62 Health Risks Linked To Alcohol Use: Study

Q. Emerging evidence suggests increasing potassium may be as important as reducing sodium. Does this change how India should approach hypertension prevention?

Dr Jha: This is a very important point and broadens the conversation in a meaningful way. As it turns out, many physicians are also unaware that potassium intake among Indians is substantially lower than recommended, and that increasing potassium intake can help lower blood pressure and improve cardiovascular health.

What makes low-sodium salt substitutes particularly valuable is that they address both issues together — they reduce sodium while increasing potassium through a product people already use every day. This dual benefit could make a meaningful difference at scale.

It does not replace the need for healthier diets overall, but it does provide a practical and scalable public health tool.

Climate change and rapid urbanization are changing mosquito habitats, and shifting dengue serotypes are reshaping the disease landscape in India. As a result, the country is now witnessing a transformation in how dengue spreads, who it affects, and how severe infections can become.

Once considered a seasonal monsoon illness, dengue is now increasingly becoming a year-round public health challenge, extending into hill states, semi-urban regions, and previously low-risk geographies.

In an exclusive interview with HealthandMe, Dr. Shikha Taneja Malik, Senior Scientific Affairs Manager, Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), South Asia, discussed why India’s dengue numbers are likely being massively undercounted, how surveillance and diagnostic gaps are masking the real scale of the crisis, and why young adults are facing more severe infections due to changing serotypes.

Dr. Shikha also explained the urgent global push for affordable therapeutics and the challenges India still faces in developing an indigenous dengue vaccine despite its strong manufacturing capacity.

Here are the excerpts from the interview:

Q. Dengue was always called a monsoon disease. Is that label now dangerously misleading?

Dr. Shikha: Yes, I would argue that labels are not just outdated but risky, too. What we are seeing across India and across the region is a fundamental shift in the transmission pattern.

Dengue used to follow a fairly predictable seasonal curve — cases would spike between July and November, track the monsoon, and then recede. That curve is flattening. We are now seeing cases in February, March, and May — months that were previously considered safe. Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru — cities that used to have clear off-seasons for dengue — are reporting year-round transmission.

Warmer temperatures, altered rainfall patterns, unplanned urbanization, and poor sanitation have lengthened transmission seasons, making dengue a year-round systemic crisis. Models now predict year-round transmission in coastal regions, though monsoon months will retain the highest peak.

Also read: National Dengue Day 2026: India Reports 6,927 Cases And 10 Deaths In 2026

Q. Are serotype shifts driving changing dengue patterns, especially in young adults?

Dr. Shikha: Yes, India is witnessing active serotype shifts, and they directly explain rising severity, especially in young adults. Initial infection with one of the four dengue serotypes results in lifelong immunity to that specific serotype. Whereas, a secondary infection with a different serotype can trigger Antibody-Dependent Enhancement (ADE).

Young adults who were exposed to one serotype in childhood are now encountering a new dominant serotype, making them especially vulnerable to severe secondary infections.

Q. Is India undercounting dengue cases? Why do so many cases go unreported?

Dr. Shikha: The 2.89 lakh figure in 2023 is what our surveillance system captures, but it is almost certainly a fraction of the true burden. The Lancet has estimated that India accounts for around 33 per cent of the global dengue burden, and globally, we are looking at approximately 400 million infections every year. That puts India's real annual dengue burden potentially in the tens of millions — not hundreds of thousands.

Few studies have shown that the estimates of actual cases are approximately 282 times higher.

There are several reasons why cases go unreported, and they compound each other.

• A large proportion of infections are either asymptomatic or present as a generic fever — patients never seek formal care.
• Our surveillance system is passive and fragmented. Reporting is largely dependent on public health facilities.
• Confirmatory testing through NS1 antigen tests or PCR requires infrastructure that is not yet uniformly available at the primary health center level, particularly in rural and semi-urban areas.

Q. Are previously dengue-free regions in India now reporting cases due to climate change?

Dr. Shikha: Yes, the geographic spread is both significant and well-documented. Climate change is playing a major role in this shift. Rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, increasing humidity, and rapid unplanned urbanization are creating more favorable conditions for Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to survive and transmit the virus for longer periods each year.

Since the mid-1990s, dengue has rapidly spread to regions where it was historically non-existent, including Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, and Mizoram. In the early 2000s, dengue was endemic only in a few southern and northern states; it has since spread to many states, including union territories.

Read More: Ebola Outbreak: Rare Bundibugyo Strain Confirmed In DR Congo And Uganda

The shift is particularly visible in hilly and cooler geographies such as Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. Climate modelling projects further expansion of Aedes albopictus into upper Himalayan regions, including Leh-Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh, by 2050.

Q. What are the biggest challenges in indigenous dengue vaccine production in India?

Dr. Shikha: India has strong vaccine manufacturing capacity, but dengue remains scientifically complex. Existing vaccines have limitations and do not cover all vulnerable groups.

India’s first Phase 3 trial for an indigenous dengue vaccine, DengiAll, is underway across 18 states. The Butantan vaccine candidate, originally developed by NIH, has been licensed to Indian companies, including Panacea, SIIPL, and Indian Immunologicals, with the ICMR-Panacea candidate being the most advanced.

The recent DCGI approval of Qdenga is encouraging, but sustained financing and coordination between ICMR, DBT, and industry will be critical for developing a truly indigenous vaccine.

Dengue has become one of the fastest-emerging health crises in the urban parts of India. Every year during the monsoon season, the number of dengue cases rises dramatically in many Indian cities, posing a huge burden on the healthcare sector.

Though climate and mosquitoes are usually cited as reasons for the surge in dengue cases, the problem actually lies in how urban life and the infrastructure of the cities have changed over the decades.

Why Urban Areas Are More Vulnerable

The dengue virus is spread through the Aedes aegypti mosquito that lives well in fresh still water, which is abundant in urban areas.

Mosquitoes breed in construction sites, open water tanks, old plastic buckets, flower pots, coolers, water stored on roofs, and blocked drainage systems. Due to the growing size of cities and high population density, mosquito-borne diseases have become more common.

There are many factors that contribute to the rise in the number of dengue patients, one of which is unplanned city expansion. The fast pace of development in the cities results in stagnant water in the construction areas going unnoticed for weeks.

Moreover, improper drainage and a lack of sanitation facilities help mosquitoes breed. Even posh societies and offices can suffer if proper checks are not conducted.

Urban lifestyle trends also act as indirect factors contributing to the issue. Longer working hours, higher levels of indoor activities, and reliance on mechanical ventilation lead to less focus on environmental hygiene issues.

Families tend to take mosquito prevention steps only after an outbreak starts. The overuse of plastics and poor waste management practices in urban areas have exacerbated waterlogging problems.

The situation has been exacerbated by climate change and global warming. Mosquitoes can breed at a faster pace and survive for a longer period of time in the warm climate and unpredictable rain patterns. Another factor that plays an important role is urban heat islands, which refer to places that are hotter because of man-made concrete buildings.

What Needs to Change?

In order to curb the incidence of dengue, there must be an all-around transformation, both on the part of the governing authorities and the people. Firstly, urban planning should take into consideration good drainage facilities, frequent fogging, garbage disposal services, and proper regulation of building sites. Secondly, there must be frequent checks in residential areas, schools, offices, markets, and open public areas.

Secondly, the awareness campaign needs to be practical and more community-oriented. The citizens should realize that the prevention of dengue starts from their homes. Actions like washing the coolers once a week, covering the water tank, not allowing the water to stagnate, and using mosquito repellents will go a long way in minimizing the spread of dengue.

Early Detection and Healthcare Preparedness

Healthcare preparedness is also equally important. The early detection and proper treatment of dengue could help avoid any serious complications. One should never overlook symptoms like fever, body pain, headache, rashes on the skin, nausea, and weakness during the rainy season.

Combatting dengue fever is no longer just a matter of health care but rather a question of urban planning and lifestyle issues. As the cities continue to expand, everyone should unite and come up with healthier and more environmentally friendly cities. Otherwise, we may see more recurring problems of dengue outbreaks in urban settings every year.