Can't leave your house without your earphones, airpods or headphones? Well, you aren't alone. There are millions of others who feel the same. However, do not be surprised if I tell you that it may lead to memory loss and dementia. According to the National Library of Medicine, the auditory nerve, which carries sound signals to the brain, when constantly bombarded with loud noises, starts transmitting weaker signals. This forces the brain to work harder to interpret the sound, leading to cognitive overload. Prolonged cognitive strain can eventually pave the way for dementia and memory loss.

Long-term headphone use also affects brain function directly. High decibel levels of noise can damage the insulation of nerve fibres that carry auditory signals to the brain, disrupting the flow of information. Moreover, the electromagnetic waves produced by headphones have been linked to problems like headaches, fatigue, and, in some cases, neurological discomfort.

Beyond The Brain, Headphones Can Make You Deaf

Empirical evidence shows that nearly one billion young people are at risk of hearing loss due to excessive exposure to loud music through headphones. For the uninitiated, sound intensity is measured in decibels. Prolonged exposure to noise above 85 decibels can be harmful to hearing. Music listened to at maximum volume using headphones often falls in the range of 85 to 120 decibels, a level capable of causing significant hearing damage over time.

Studies Show The Ill Effects

According to a recent survey in the UK, a staggering 65% of students admitted to listening to music at maximum volume through their headphones. A similar study revealed that adolescents exposed to high noise levels via headphones in noisy environments experienced a hearing loss prevalence of 22.6%. Those who used earphones for 80 minutes or more per day had a hearing loss prevalence of 22.3%. These figures are alarming, especially given how ingrained headphone use has become in daily life.

The ramifications of early-onset hearing loss go far beyond damaged ears. It can also jeopardize your mental health. Hearing loss in youth can set off a chain reaction, leading to social isolation and depression. Over time, it can also escalate and jeopardise your relationships. Ill-fitting headphones add to the woes, causing pain that extends from the inner ear to the jaws and top of the head. They can also lead to ear infections, which eventually hamper cognitive functions.

Protecting hearing and brain health requires a shift in listening habits. Experts recommend keeping the volume below 60 per cent and limiting usage to 60 minutes per day. Investing in noise-cancelling headphones can also help reduce the need to crank up the volume in noisy environments.

Elimination of wild poliovirus remains a landmark public health achievement for India, but the fight against the disease is not over. With poliovirus still circulating in neighbouring countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan, efforts like continued vaccination, strong surveillance and early detection remain essential to protect children from a debilitating disease that can cause irreversible life-long paralysis.

The last case of wild poliovirus in India was reported on January 13, 2011. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared its South-East Asia Region, which includes India, polio-free on March 27, 2014. More than a decade later, maintaining that status still requires focused efforts to ensure every child is protected.

The latest figures from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative show that Afghanistan had reported 42 cases of wild poliovirus in 2026 as of October 21, while Pakistan had reported six.

The two countries remain the only places where wild poliovirus is endemic. These cases highlight why polio continues to be a global public health concern even in countries that have eradicated it.

Gulam A. Vahanvaty, Chairman of the India National PolioPlus Committee at Rotary International and a former trustee of The Rotary Foundation told HealthandMe that elimination within a country does not mean the risk has disappeared.

“Just because a country is free from polio doesn't mean it is immune to the disease,” he said.

Also read: What Is Vaccine-Derived Polio And How Is It Triggering New Polio Cases In India?

India Must Be Vigilant About Polio Vaccination Efforts

Polio is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by poliovirus. It spreads through the faecal-oral route, when the virus passes from an infected person's stool into another person's mouth, often through contaminated hands, food or water.

It can also spread through oral secretions. Although many infections cause no obvious symptoms, the virus can affect the nervous system and cause permanent paralysis.

Dr Aparna G, Consultant in Paediatrics and Neonatology at Rainbow Children's Hospital, Sholinganallur, Chennai, explains that sustained immunisation is central to preventing the disease from returning.

She said, “While India was declared polio-free on March 27, 2014, by the World Health Organization, the risk of the virus being reintroduced from neighbouring countries where it continues to circulate remains.”

Vaccination builds immunity against poliovirus in children. India uses two types of polio vaccines - the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV), administered by injection, and the oral polio vaccine (OPV), given as drops.

Routine immunisation helps ensure that every child receives their recommended vaccine doses. Dr Aparna explain, “Pulse polio immunization is a strategy of mass immunization by which one can eradicate poliomyelitis.

Extra doses of OPV are given to all children below 5 years of age in an area at a time on a given day. Such pulses are repeated every year. The aim is to achieve 100% coverage.”

These additional doses do not replace routine vaccination. Both approaches are important, especially for reaching children who may have missed doses or live in places where access to healthcare is poor.

Also read: Polio Cases On The Rise Again, WHO Warns The World To A Growing Threat

Surveillance Is As Important As Immunisation

Vaccination is only one part of maintaining India's polio-free status. Public health authorities must also be able to detect any possible circulation of the virus quickly.

One important tool is surveillance for acute flaccid paralysis (AFP), which involves investigating cases of sudden-onset weakness or paralysis in children. Environmental surveillance, which includes testing sewage samples for poliovirus, can also help detect the virus even when no cases have been reported.

Dr Aparna says, “Equally important is strong surveillance to identify suspected cases, monitor acute flaccid paralysis and detect any possible circulation of the virus at an early stage. Timely detection allows public health authorities to respond quickly and prevent further transmission. Active community-based surveillance should also be considered.”

Early detection allows authorities to investigate threats, identify immunity gaps and organise vaccination drives where necessary.

Despite progress, the circulation of wild poliovirus in Afghanistan and Pakistan even today means the global eradication effort remains unfinished. International cooperation, vaccination coverage and effective surveillance will continue to be essential until transmission is curbed everywhere.

For India, the priority is to protect the progress achieved by ensuring that children do not miss routine immunisation, that vaccination campaigns reach vulnerable communities and that surveillance systems remain capable of identifying threats.

Dianna Cowern, the science communicator with more than two million YouTube subscribers, was at the peak of her career in 2022. Featuring millions of views, her YouTube channel ‘Physics Girl’, featured her travelling across the world filming science videos. She had also recently married her longtime partner, Kyle Kitzmiller.

Then, after contracting COVID-19 during her honeymoon in Scotland, her life took a turn in ways she could not have anticipated.

What initially started off as a mild infection was followed by a sharp decline in her physical and mental health. A hike she had planned with her husband became an impossible task for her. After that rest no longer seemed to help her recover.

Cowern's experience highlights the disabling effects of Long COVID, a condition that researchers are still trying to understand.

She recalled the time when her symptoms escalated, “Brain fog like I'd never experienced before. I couldn't walk. I couldn't think. I had nausea and headaches,” she said. “And I never recovered from that crash.”

From An Active Life To Confined To Bed

Also read: Long COVID: Mouth And Lung Bacteria May Offer Clues

According to KPBS, Cowern's initial COVID-19 symptoms included a sore throat, cough and stuffy nose. After they subsided, she and Kitzmiller began a multiday hike they had planned for months. By the third day, she was struggling to recover even after resting and had to take a cab to the next location while her husband continued on foot.

The couple cut their honeymoon short and returned to San Diego. Her health continued to decline. She first lost the ability to run and hike, then struggled to work and walk. Eventually, she became unable to speak, read or use her phone.

Sensitivity to light and sound left her spending her days in a dark room, wearing dark glasses and noise-cancelling headphones to limit stimulation. Kitzmiller became her full-time caregiver.

He also recalled episodes in which her heart rate dropped into the 30s. He used a pulse monitor with an alarm and slept waiting for it to sound. “Every day I didn't know if she was just gonna die,” he said.

The couple sought medical help, but tests failed to provide clear answers. Kitzmiller described the response they had received from doctors. He said they said, “There's not a real disease here.”

Long COVID Is Part Of Post-Acute Infection Syndromes

Also read: Long COVID Symptoms Are Closer To A Stroke Or Parkinson's Disease Than Fatigue

Long COVID refers to symptoms that occur after a SARS-CoV-2 infection and cannot be explained by another diagnosis. Symptoms vary widely and may include fatigue, cognitive difficulties, breathlessness, sleep disturbances and problems with everyday activities.

Some people improve over time, while others experience prolonged illness that affects their ability to lead routine lives.

Long COVID is also part of a bigger group of conditions known as post-acute infection syndromes, in which people continue to experience symptoms after an infection has gone.

Researchers are examining possible explanations behind Long COVID, including prolonged immune dysfunction and other changes triggered by infection.

Treatments Improved Symptoms But Road To Recovery Was Far

With few established treatment alternatives available, Cowern explored options suggested by researchers, although they were not approved for Long COVID. She reported a significant improvement after trying some of them.

“I was able to start looking at my phone again and reading and listening to music, which was amazing,” she said. “And then everything improved.”

After three years, she eventually returned to making science videos. But her return has not meant a full recovery. Cowern says that she is functioning at around 30% to 40% of her previous capacity.

She and Kitzmiller are now using their platform to raise awareness about chronic illness. Kitzmiller has also joined an advisory committee for clinical trials investigating a treatment that helped her.

“There’s still a lot to learn,” Cowern said. “There's so little that's understood about this disease, but I will say that everyone that has it is desperate to live again.”

Air pollution, chemicals that interfere with hormonal health and stress due to climate may be contributing to South Asia’s growing burden of diabetes and heart disease. The Lancet study has highlighted the importance of considering other factors than diet and physical inactivity when addressing metabolic health.

A paper published in The Lancet Regional Health – Southeast Asia argues that the environmental conditions people face throughout their lives could play a key role in worsening cardiometabolic health.

The authors specifically point to a combination of exposures, from fine particulate matter in polluted air to chemicals in consumer products, that could influence how body regulates blood sugar, stores fat and maintains healthy blood vessels.

The paper, titled South Asia’s cardiometabolic burden: exposomal determinants of a health transition, was authored by Misra and Yashendra Sethi of the Department of Medicine at Subharti Medical College, Swami Vivekanand Subharti University, Meerut.

Effects Of Environmental Exposures On Metabolic Health

Also read: Delhi Air Pollution: Experts Explain Why You Feel Unusually Tired When AQI Rises

The authors use the term “exposome” to denote the range of environmental factors a person sees over their lifetime living in a particular city. These include air pollution, chemical contaminants, dietary patterns, sleep pattern and stress.

Fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, is the primary concern, according to the authors. These tiny airborne particles can seep deep into the lungs and cause inflammation that could worsen cardiovascular and respiratory illness.

The paper also highlights how prolonged exposure may contribute to metabolic dysfunction, including oxidative stress, insulin resistance and damage to the lining of blood vessels.

Chemical exposures are another area of concern. Bisphenols, phthalates and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), found in various industrial and consumer applications, can interfere with hormone health. Depending on the level of exposure, these chemicals may have an effect on insulin sensitivity, appetite and fat cells in the body.

Other lifestyle will only fuel these risks. Irregular sleep, shift work and disrupted body clocks can interfere with metabolic health, while unhealthy diets featuring ultra-processed foods and stress may contribute to inflammation and other reasons that lead to chronic diseases.

The authors say that these overlapping exposures could help explain why conditions like type 2 diabetes, steatotic liver disease and cardiovascular disease are becoming alarming public health concerns in South Asia. However, the contribution of individual exposures and their combined effects requires further investigation.

South Asians Face Greater Risks Of Chronic Diseases

South Asians can develop type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease at younger ages and at lower body mass index levels than many Western populations. The paper places the region’s rapid economic and social transformation behind this vulnerability.

It means that generations that experienced undernutrition for centuries now live in environments influenced by urbanisation, better transport, changing diets and greater exposure to pollution. Biological tendencies towards energy storage may interact with these newer conditions, increasing metabolic risk.

Across the Asia-Pacific region, the burden of cardiometabolic disease, measured in life years after adjusting disability, rose between 1.7-fold and 3.7-fold from 1990 to 2023.

Also read: Rising AQI In Delhi-NCR: Doctors Warn Of Lung And Heart Risks As Pollution Builds

Approach For Prevention

The authors argue that advice on eating well, exercising and sleeping adequately remains important, but they cannot help when people have limited control over the air they breathe or the environmental quality.

The paper recommends monitoring environmental exposures, intervening early in life, strengthening food policies, and conducting long-term research to understand how exposures influence cardiometabolic outcomes.