This digital era is all about catching up with trends, TikToks and reels, but at the cost of what? Many believe all of this happens at the cost of one's health and mental well-being. As a result, the grades of students, especially in high school, when they are exposed to social media the most, start to drop. However, a study based on the University of Birmingham's findings, peer-revied and published by the Lancet's journal for European health policy compared 1,277 students and the rules their 30 different secondary schools had for smartphone use at break and lunchtimes.` The study found something else, contrary to the popular belief.

What Did The Study Find?

The study found that banning phones in school is not linked to pupils getting higher grades or having a better mental wellbeing. The study found that a student's sleep, classroom behavior, exercise or how long they spend on their phones did not seem much different for schools with phone bans versus schools without it.

However, the study did find that spending longer time in social media or on smartphones in general may be linked to such measures. This was the first study in the world that looked at school phone rules along with the children's health and education.

In an interview to the BBC, Dr Victoria Goodyear, study's lead author said, that the findings are not against smartphone bans in school, but, a suggestion that bans in isolation are not enough to tackle the negative impacts.

The focus must be on reducing how much time the student spends on their phone, which cannot just be supervised in school.

How Was The Study Conducted?

The schools were chosen from a sample of 1,341 mainstream state schools in England. Among these the behavior of student form schools that banned the smartphones versus those who did not ban it were studied to find out that schools restricting smartphone use did not seem to see the intended improvements on health, wellbeing and focus of the student, as one would have wished to.

The study also used the internationally recognized Warwick-Edinburg Mental Well-Being Scale, a measure of mental well-being focusing entirely on positive aspects. It is a 14-item scale with 5 response categories. This method was used to determine the wellbeing of the children who participated in the research. It further looked at students' anxiety and depression levels.

It also asked from teachers about whether their students were on target, below target or above target in English and maths.

What Do The Students Feel?

When asked students, they said that the smartphone ban forces you to hang out and chat with your friends and some of them think in lower school, it has helped them spend less time scrolling social media and making lots of friends.

Experts point out that the important part is to help students learn to use their phone in a safe and controlled space. This way, phone-related issues, especially distraction, its impact on your mental health, will be much less. The answer is not ban, but the use of the smartphone in a controlled environment, so students learn to value the "freedom" they have been given to use them at break and lunch.

A new wave of anti-obesity medications is transforming how people experience hunger. Rather than merely suppressing appetite, these drugs work by gently quieting the brain circuits that constantly drive us to eat.

The obesity medication tirzepatide, marketed as Mounjaro or Zepbound, appears to dampen brain activity linked to food cravings, according to a recent study. Researchers tracked the electrical signals in the brain of someone with severe obesity, who had persistent ‘food noise’ soon after starting the medication.

The study is the first to use electrodes to directly observe how blockbuster GLP-1–mimicking obesity drugs affect brain activity in humans, hinting at how they ease intense food cravings. But how exactly do these weight-loss medications work to reduce the ‘food noise’ in your mind?

We spoke with Dr. Nidhi Khandelwal, a leading Robotic & Laparoscopic Bariatric, Hernia & GI Surgeon | Mumbai MS, FIAGES, FALS (Bariatrics), FALS (Robotics), to understand more.

Can Weight Loss Drugs Suppress Food Craving In Your Brain?

Casey Halpern, a neurosurgeon-scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, and his team did not initially set out to study obesity drugs’ effects on the brain. Their goal was to see if deep brain stimulation—a therapy delivering a mild electrical current directly into the brain, could reduce compulsive eating in people with obesity who did not respond to treatments like bariatric surgery.

For the study, participants had electrodes implanted in their nucleus accumbens, a brain region involved in reward. This area also contains GLP-1 receptors, explains Christian Hölscher, a neuroscientist at the Henan Academy of Innovations in Medical Science, Zhengzhou, China, “so we know GLP-1 influences reward circuits.” The electrodes can both record electrical activity and deliver currents as needed and are already used to treat some epilepsy cases.

For the first two participants, intense food-noise episodes coincided with spikes in low-frequency brain activity, suggesting that these signals could indicate compulsive food cravings.

The third participant, a 60-year-old woman, had just started a high dose of tirzepatide—prescribed for type 2 diabetes—when her electrode was implanted. “We took advantage of this chance because of the excitement around these medications,” Halpern says. In the following months, her urges to binge eat disappeared. “It was remarkable to see the absence of food noise in someone with a long history of cravings,” he adds. “Equally striking was the silence in the nucleus accumbens, as seen in the electrical readings from that area.”

How Do Weight Loss Drugs Help With Food Cravings?

Many people struggling with weight describe a constant ‘buzz’ in their minds, preoccupied with thoughts about their next snack, cravings for sweets, or planning meals even when not hungry. This is often called “food noise.” These medications help quiet that constant chatter.

Dr. Khandelwal explains, “They send signals to the brain similar to what naturally happens after a satisfying meal. People feel full faster, stay satiated longer, and don’t experience the same urge to snack constantly. The mind feels clearer, and the emotional pull of comfort foods becomes easier to manage.”

She also noted another benefit: the ability to make better food choices, like selecting a healthier meal or stopping when full. Goals that once felt impossible now feel achievable and more natural. For many, the biggest change is not only weight loss but also the relief of finally having mental peace from constant cravings, which supports healthier habits.

However, Dr. Khandelwal emphasizes that these medications should only be used under the supervision of a specialist in obesity management.

Nearly one in seven couples struggles with infertility, meaning they haven’t been able to conceive despite having regular, unprotected sex for a year or more. In roughly half of these couples, male infertility is at least partially responsible. Causes can range from low sperm production and abnormal sperm function to blockages that prevent sperm delivery.

Illnesses, injuries, chronic conditions, lifestyle factors, and other influences may contribute. Not being able to conceive can be stressful and emotionally challenging, but a variety of treatments exist for male infertility. But are there natural ways to improve male fertility? We spoke with Dr. Ruchi Jain, Fertility Specialist at Nova IVF Fertility, Kolkata, to get her insights.

What Is Male Infertility?

Male infertility refers to a man’s inability to cause pregnancy in a fertile female partner, often due to problems with sperm production, function, or delivery. After a year of trying (or six months if the woman is over 35) without success, doctors usually examine both partners. About 50% of infertility cases involve male factors, with the most common issues being low sperm count (oligospermia), poor motility, abnormal morphology, or the complete absence of sperm in the ejaculate (azoospermia), Dr Jain explained. Some causes are temporary, some treatable, and some may be permanent.

Can Male Infertility Be Treated Naturally?

Many men experience noticeable improvement by focusing on lifestyle changes and addressing reversible medical conditions. Research shows that a nutritious diet (like a Mediterranean-style or “prudent” diet), regular moderate exercise, quitting smoking, reducing alcohol, losing excess weight, and avoiding heat or tight underwear can improve sperm quality.

Dr. Jain noted, “These adjustments don’t guarantee conception, but they often enhance sperm count, motility, and DNA quality enough to support natural conception or assisted reproductive techniques.”

Medical Fixes That Can Restore Fertility

Certain medical conditions that cause infertility can often be reversed. For example, varicoceles, which are enlarged veins in the scrotum—are a common cause; repairing a significant varicocele frequently improves semen parameters and can lead to pregnancy.

Hormonal issues, such as low testosterone or pituitary disorders, may also be treated with medication. Dr. Jain said, “Temporary causes like infections, medications, or recent fevers can lower sperm counts, which often normalize within a few months once the underlying issue is resolved. Professional guidelines highlight that many male-factor infertility cases can respond well to medical or surgical treatment.”

Is Male Infertility Permanent?

Dr Jain told us that some conditions are extremely difficult or impossible to “cure.” Genetic disorders (like Klinefelter syndrome), congenital absence of the vas deferens, severe testicular failure, or damage from chemotherapy or radiation usually prevent normal sperm production.

In these cases, treatment focuses on alternatives: retrieving sperm directly from the testicles, using IVF with ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection), donor sperm, or adoption. Recent studies show that sperm retrieval after certain procedures can improve success rates, but outcomes depend heavily on the underlying condition of the testicles.

What About Supplements, Herbs, and “Natural” Cures?

Interest in antioxidants (vitamins C and E, zinc, L-carnitine), herbal remedies (maca, ginseng), and bioactive compounds (resveratrol, curcumin) is rising. Some research reports modest improvements in sperm quality, while other studies show mixed or minimal effects.

However, experts caution that supplements aren’t a miracle solution, quality varies, and evidence remains limited. Always consult a specialist before trying supplements, as some may interact with medications or cause harm at high doses.

Big-Picture Threats and Prevention

Even with personal lifestyle changes, environmental factors play a major role. Global air pollution, pesticides, plastics, and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals are linked to long-term declines in sperm counts. While an individual cannot control these entirely, reducing exposure (avoiding unnecessary plastics, limiting contact with heat or chemicals, choosing organic or well-washed produce) and advocating for public health measures are practical steps. Recent global reviews have highlighted these environmental threats to male fertility.

How To Reverse Male Infertility?

Male infertility is not always permanent. Many causes, such as obstructions, varicoceles, hormonal imbalances, or infections—can be treated or reversed. Lifestyle changes and certain medical or surgical interventions can improve outcomes for many men.

Conversely, genetic factors, severe testicular damage, and gonadotoxic injuries are usually irreversible, requiring assisted reproductive techniques or other family-building options. A structured diagnostic assessment and an individualized treatment plan—including genetic counseling when needed are essential.

What happens when antibiotics stop working? We are so used to consuming antibiotics for everything that slowly our bodies are rejecting this. The sole reason is that bacteria have become smart. And experts believe that if this continues, it could slip the world back into an era where even a minor infection would be dangerous.

Antibiotics are used to treat almost all infections. However, with the sudden outbreaks, the misuse and overuse of it is slowly leading to antibiotic resistance or antimicrobial resistance (AMR). As per the World Health Organization (WHO), AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines.

What could Happen When Antibiotics Stop Working?

As experts warn, infections we currently consider minor could soon turn life-threatening. A routine urine infection, a scraped knee, or a mild chest infection, problems that usually resolve within days, may refuse to heal in the future. Bacteria evolve rapidly, and when exposed to unnecessary or incomplete antibiotic courses, they adapt and learn to survive. That’s when even our strongest medicines begin to fail.

Antibiotics do far more than treat common illnesses; they quietly support some of the most advanced medical procedures.

“Joint replacements, heart surgeries, organ transplants all rely on antibiotics to prevent dangerous infections. Chemotherapy patients, whose immunity is low, survive because antibiotics protect them from everyday microbes. Remove this safety net, and suddenly these sophisticated treatments become far riskier, even impossible,” explained Dr. Sunil Havannavar Senior Consultant - Internal Medicine, Manipal Hospital Sarjapur to IndiaTV.

How Does Antimicrobial Resistance Spread?

Antibiotic resistance doesn’t arrive with a bang. It builds slowly, every time antibiotics are misused—taken for viral infections, stopped halfway through, used without prescription, or demanded unnecessarily for fevers. Each misuse gives bacteria an opportunity to evolve. Doctors are already seeing cases where high-power, last-resort antibiotics are needed for infections that should have been easily treatable.

In fact, a new global study in The Lancet’s eClinicalMedicine has drawn serious concern about the sharp rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in India, placing the country at the centre of what many specialists now consider a fast-moving superbug crisis. The research, titled Preprocedural screening for multidrug-resistant organisms in endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography: an international, multicentre, cross-sectional observational study, shows that Indian patients had the highest worldwide rates of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) among those undergoing a common endoscopic procedure.

A superbug is a strain of bacteria that no longer responds to one or more groups of antibiotics that previously worked well. This can happen through enzyme production such as carbapenemases, changes in drug targets, increased pumping out of drugs or shifts in the cell wall that block antibiotics from entering, as per National Institute of Health. When bacteria gain resistance to several antibiotic classes, the list of possible treatments becomes very small. Such resistance makes infections tougher to manage because routine medicines no longer work, leading to more severe illness.

What We Can Still Do to Stop This Future

The situation is serious, but not irreversible. We can slow the rise of resistance if everyone plays their part.

• Doctors can prescribe antibiotics only when necessary.
• Patients can avoid demanding them for every fever or throat ache.
• Everyone must finish the full antibiotic course when prescribed.
• Hospitals can strengthen hygiene and infection control.
• Farmers can limit antibiotic use in livestock.
• Scientists can continue developing new medicines and vaccines.