Some days my brain is like a storm, thoughts moving faster than I can keep up. A small mistake becomes an catastrophe, an offhand remark becomes a soul-deep fear. I turn around and around, analyzing each word, every move, every potentiality. But then, I discovered recently this easy 20-second hack which was actually pretty straightforward but made a tremendous difference in the negative thinking. Quickly [sitting my hand on my heart and reminding myself, I am enough. Even just that small hesitation interrupts the madness. My breath slows, my shoulders ease, and for a moment, the hurricane calms. This practice over time has become my anchor, reminding me that I am not thoughts—I am so much more.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have discovered that it doesn't need to take long to practice self-compassion to be beneficial. The study, published in the Behaviour Research and Therapy journal, revealed that performing a 20-second self-compassion touch, such as putting a hand on your heart or belly, can greatly reduce levels of stress and anxiety.

According to psychology researcher Eli Susman, who co-authored the study, a group of 135 college students was asked to dedicate just 20 seconds a day to affirm themselves with kind and positive thoughts while engaging in a self-compassionate touch. The results were striking: those who consistently practiced this simple technique over a month experienced notable improvements in mood, self-compassion, and emotional resilience, while stress hormone levels decreased.

Why 20 Seconds of Self-Compassion Works

1. Decrease in Cortisol Levels

The stress hormone cortisol is the cause of much of the physical and emotional damage chronic stress inflicts on the body. The researchers discovered that a mere 20 seconds of self-compassionate touch resulted in a measurable drop in cortisol, allowing people to recover from stress more rapidly.

2. Better Emotional Well-Being

By practicing positive self-affirmation and empathetic touch, study participants reported greater emotional equanimity and reduced reactivity to stressful challenges.

3. A Simple, Accessible Practice

Unlike many conventional mindfulness practices that might demand lengthy meditation sessions, this micropractice requires only 20 seconds, rendering it simple to fit into daily activities, be it at home, the workplace, or even during public transport rides.

How to Practice Self-Compassionate Touch

This exercise is very easy and can be done anywhere. Here's how you can adapt it to your daily life:

Step 1: Recognize Your Emotions

Close your eyes and reflect on a recent experience that made you feel stressed, unworthy, or critical of yourself. Notice the sensations in your body as you reflect on this episode.

Step 2: Practice a Soothing Touch

Put one hand on your heart and the other on your belly. If this doesn't feel comfortable to you, you can experiment with other ways of self-compassionate touching, including:

Stroking the back of your neck

Rubbing a place on your palm with your thumb

Hugging yourself lightly by holding your arms in across your chest

Step 3: Breathe Deeply and Give Yourself Kindness

Take a slow, deep breath in. Feel the warmth and gentle pressure of your hands. As you exhale, focus on releasing tension. Now, in your mind, repeat self-compassionate affirmations such as:

“I am kind to myself.”

“I am not my mistakes.”

“I give myself room and comfort.”

“I celebrate my uniqueness.”

“I take this time to appreciate who I am.”

Step 4: Finish with a Sense of Gratitude

Open your eyes after 20 seconds and simply take a moment to admire yourself for taking the time to do this practice. You can repeat it as many times as you need throughout the day.

Susman calls this approach a "micropractice"—a tiny but effective habit that enhances mental health without taking up much time. These practices are based on classic mindfulness and meditation practices but are tailored to fit today's busy lives.

While the research was conducted with college students, the findings have applications for individuals of all ages. Whether you are a working professional with a packed schedule, a parent with numerous responsibilities, or an individual dealing with anxiety, adding a 20-second self-compassion exercise to your daily routine can be a convenient and effective method for managing stress and developing resilience.

Making It a Daily Habit

The secret to reaping the rewards of self-compassionate touch is consistency. Below are some ways to incorporate it into your daily life:

Begin your day by practicing self-compassion in bed before rising.

Utilize it as a fast tool during stressful situations at work or school.

Unwind by doing this micropractice before bedtime to relax.

May merely 20 seconds a day cause you to desist from spinning? The short answer, per the most up-to-date science, is that yes, it can. Micropractices for self-compassion provide a straightforward, research-supported means for lessening distress, enhancing emotional resilience, and cultivating a friendlier relationship with oneself.

In a world where stress and worry are escalating, this simple practice is a good reminder that simple, purposeful acts of care for ourselves have the ability to create tremendous transformations in our mindset. Why not give it a try for one month, you might find a surprising transformation.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT Health, Anthropic’s Claude chatbot, and Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok have become the new Google, where people can easily diagnose their symptoms. More than men, the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbots have emerged as a go-to place for women who try to self-diagnose their unique conditions and save themselves from stigma and being shamed.

A November 2025 study, published in the journal BMC Public Health, showed how AI chatbots are working as ‘pocket doctors’ to offer intimate health support for young women in resource-limited settings or conservative societies.

The study showed that large language models, such as ChatGPT and Gemini, have emerged as digital tools offering anonymity, reducing embarrassment, and increasing accessibility to health advice on menstrual problems and polycystic ovary syndrome, as well as physical fitness and mental health, in countries or areas where women’s health issues are heavily stigmatized.

OpenAI recently said that over 230 million people globally ask health and wellness-related questions on ChatGPT every week.

With the AI chatbots vouching for their ability in diagnosing diseases, often performing on par with or even outperforming human physicians in specific, simulated scenarios, how helpful or risky can AI health diagnoses be, specifically for women? Let’s take a look.

In a recent case, an AIIMS doctor flagged the risks of using ChatGPT for health after a patient suffered bleeding after he self-diagnosed his backpain using ChatGPT and took non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

“All ailments are diagnosed by exclusion, and we advise medicines according to the investigation. Do not use AI for self-diagnosis or self-treatment,” said Dr. Uma Kumar, head of the AIIMS's Rheumatology department, while speaking to news agency ANI.

At the same time, there have been several cases that made headlines when AI chatbots could diagnose conditions that, for years, went undetected by human doctors.

Marly Garnreiter, a 27-year-old Parisian strategist, initially shrugged off her night sweats, prickly skin, and weight loss as manifestations of sorrow for her dead father -- until ChatGPT intimated blood cancer in 2024.

Doubtful, she dismissed the AI's recommendation. A biopsy, a year later, concluded that she had Hodgkin's lymphoma, a form of blood cancer.

Dr. Rajeev Jayadevan, Ex-President of IMA Cochin and Convener of the Research Cell, Kerala, told HealthandMe that unlike search engines of the past that were essentially glorified libraries that would fetch individual files or documents based on our keyword search, AI can search through numerous sources simultaneously and arrive at conclusions that are better customized to the situation.

That being said, an important limitation applies here. The machine algorithm can only deliver what we ask for. Thus, it may depend on the query being fed to the bot.

“Asking the machine, 'I have a headache, what should I do?' is different from saying: 'I am a 28-year-old woman taking birth control pills. I am under stress from my desk job at a bank and haven’t slept well for five days. I drink too much coffee, my meal timings are irregular, and I’m having a headache. What should I do?' The answer in both of these situations will be different. Therefore, people seeking AI help to evaluate their symptoms must make an attempt to give a more complete picture and use the correct prompts,” Dr. Jayadevan said.

How AI Can Be Risky For Women's Health

While it may be unfair to ask anyone not to use an AI chatbot for health questions, it is important to understand the limitations.

The major limitations include:

• Algorithmic bias: The AI models are largely trained on datasets that insufficiently represent women. Even the medical research has traditionally used the male body as a model system, thus AI trained on this data may fail to recognize how conditions like heart disease manifest differently in women, leading to underdiagnosis or misdiagnosis.

“The current AI algorithms are trained on data that predominantly applies to males, and the information we retrieve could be biased in that direction. For instance, the symptoms of ischemic heart disease for men and women are different, as are the causes of abdominal pain,” Dr. Jayadevan said.

• False positives: While AI can sometimes decode health issues that went undetected for years, there have also been instances where AI misinterpreted completely normal, benign, or non-target images as suspicious, leading to unnecessary follow-up tests and patient anxiety.

Dr. Jayadevan called it "AI hallucinations,” which involves the equivalent of lying or making false information in response to a query.

In 2025, David Alvaro, Editor in Chief, wrote in his Pharma's Almanac that AI tools used in precision medicine for dosing recommendations were found to produce less accurate results for women due to their reliance on pharmacokinetic data primarily derived from male participants.

A 2022 study by University College London revealed that AI models designed to predict liver disease from blood tests were twice as likely to miss the disease in women compared to men.

The AI models missed 44 percent of liver disease cases in women, compared to 23 percent in men, according to the study published in BMJ Health & Care Informatics.

Early in January, Google announced it would remove some of its AI health summaries after a Guardian-led investigation found people were being put at risk of harm by false and misleading information.

The company has said its AI Overviews, which use generative AI to provide snapshots of essential information about a topic or question, are “helpful” and “reliable”.

• Data privacy concerns: Gauging what the algorithm will do with the sensitive health information and what impact it will have on future insurance transactions or even employment may be uncertain.

“AI could be a powerful tool in healthcare, from diagnosis to women's health, by helping to find problems earlier and giving patients more personalized care. However, AI adoption must stay focused on people, making sure that technology improves clinical care instead of trying to replace it,” Dr. Sabine Kapasi, public health expert and UN advisor, told HealthandMe.

Dr. Kapasi added that while AI can help fill in significant gaps in healthcare infrastructure, particularly in rural areas, “addressing the problems with fragmentation and making sure everybody enjoys equal access.”

AI: A Helpful Friend, Not Your Doctor

Consulting a qualified doctor for symptoms is always the better option than blindly trusting AI diagnoses.

Yet, AI-based health diagnostics have revolutionized healthcare significantly for women by improving early detection of diseases that are historically under-researched, underdiagnosed, or overlooked.

In a widely reported case, a woman used Grok to analyze her daughter's wrist X-rays after an urgent care facility failed to identify a fracture. Grok successfully identified a distal radial head fracture that was subsequently confirmed by a specialist, helping the child avoid surgery.

More than traditional models that often lack gender-specific data, AI has the potential to analyze vast, diverse datasets that can help identify unique patterns in female physiology.

Pinky Promise, a pioneering AI-powered women's digital clinic in India, is revolutionizing gynecological care via chat-first consultations on a mobile app without shame or judgment. It has helped over 350,000 women nationwide.

Similarly, Ema: Your AI Best Friend is another AI app designed to navigate "femalehood," offering empathy and early detection of cycle issues, acting as a 3 a.m. support rather than a diagnostic doctor.

How AI Can Be Leveraged For Women's Health

AI can be used to decode long-standing research gaps, boost diagnostic accuracy, and enable personalized care for women across their lifespan. Key applications include:

Cancer Detection, where AI-assisted mammography can improve breast cancer detection. Some studies have shown a 20 percent increase in cancer detection without increasing false positives.

AI can also help analyze Pap smear images to detect cervical cancer.

In the case of endometriosis, a hard-to-diagnose condition specific to women, AI can help shorten the long diagnosis time for endometriosis (currently 7-10 years).

AI also helps optimize IVF procedures by analyzing (embryo) images and hormone levels.

Mental Health is another area where AI chatbots and algorithms have shown prowess, especially in the early detection of postpartum depression, which affects 15 percent of women.

“AI is neither a miracle nor a menace; it is a mirror of how wisely we choose to use it. I have always believed we must never start with health screening, but with ‘Health Risk Assessment’,” Dr. Rajendra Pratap Gupta, chairman- Health Parliament, creator of SHE App & former advisor to the Union Health Minister, told HealthandMe.

“With AI, risk assessment becomes predictive, personalized, and action-oriented, accelerating the shift toward 'predictive prevention' -- pre-emptive care. For women, this could be a game changer: enabling earlier interventions, smarter decisions, and better outcomes. But it must be deployed at the right level, with digitally literate populations and strong clinical oversight,” he added.

A staggering 80 percent of women worldwide silently bear the burden of autoimmune diseases, which often manifest as joint pain, hair loss, brain fog, and unexplained weight changes.

These conditions, which often begin with mild symptoms, over time, worsen and develop into chronic illnesses such as Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, and Rheumatoid Arthritis.

The conditions are challenging to diagnose as symptoms often fluctuate, overlap with other conditions like thyroid disorders or viral infections, and are sometimes affected by gender bias in medicine.

The delayed diagnosis significantly impacts women’s careers and personal lives.

“Approximately 80 percent of patients with autoimmune disorders are women, yet awareness remains low. Diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and autoimmune thyroid disease often begin during the most productive years of women’s lives, affecting careers, fertility, heart health, mental health, and overall quality of life,” said Dr. Uma Kumar, Head of Rheumatology at AIIMS, New Delhi, in an interview with HealthandMe.

“Correct diagnosis of autoimmune diseases is frequently delayed, leading to preventable organ damage and disability,” she added.

Autoimmune Diseases Often Speak Softly

There are more than 100 different types of autoimmune diseases. All occur when the immune system mistakenly attacks the body’s own healthy tissues, leading to chronic inflammation and damage to organs, joints, glands, or the nervous system.

Speaking to HealthandMe, Dr. Neeraj Jain, Vice Chairman, Department of Rheumatology at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said: “As a rheumatologist, I frequently see women living with persistent symptoms that remain unexplained for years before an autoimmune disease is diagnosed".

Dr. Jain explained that common symptoms include:

• Persistent fatigue
• Joint pain
• Hair loss
• Brain fog
• Unexplained weight changes
• Recurrent inflammation

“Because these symptoms can overlap with stress, hormonal changes, or lifestyle factors, diagnosis is frequently delayed,” Dr. Jain said.

Singer and actress Selena Gomez shared her experience with lupus in 2017.

“I would get fevers, headaches, and fatigue, but I always just kept going. I kind of ignored it, to be honest. … I don’t think I made the right decisions because I didn’t accept it. That’s extremely selfish, and at the same time, really just unnecessary. I’m not really proud of that,” Gomez was quoted as saying to TODAY.

Why Women Are More Affected

While an estimated more than 10 million individuals globally suffer from these disease, women face a fourfold higher risk than men.

The higher prevalence of autoimmune diseases in women is linked to:

• Genetic susceptibility
• Sex hormone influences
• Stress
• Environmental factors such as pollution

A 2020 study by Franklin University in the US found that many autoimmune disorders tend to affect women during periods of high stress, such as pregnancy or hormonal changes.

Research from a 2024 Stanford Medicine study found that inactivation of the X chromosome can trigger autoimmune responses.

Studies have noted the role of estrogen and an overactive immune system in increasing women's susceptibility to autoimmunity.

Environmental factors, including pollution, viruses, and mitochondrial damage, have also recently emerged as reasons driving autoimmune disease rates among women, as per a 2024 study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Exposure to PM2.5, nitrogen oxides, and ozone has been linked to increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis, particularly for genetically susceptible individuals. Living near busy roads, with constant traffic-related pollution, also correlates with a higher risk.

Why Early Detection Is Important

Early evaluation and timely diagnosis are essential. Appropriate treatment can significantly improve the quality of life and prevent long-term complications.

Persistent or unexplained symptoms should never be ignored, as early medical assessment can make a major difference in outcomes.

Telugu actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu, diagnosed with Myositis in her podcast, recalled subtle early symptoms:

“I remember specifically the year before I was diagnosed… I woke up with this condition. Early signs mimicked overexertion—fatigue during shoots, inability to hold props, and rapid exhaustion. A critical incident during an action sequence led to fainting and a head concussion, forcing me to pause work. I had to take a lot of steroid shots, which really messed up my skin.”

“Autoimmune diseases often speak softly through symptoms, but early listening can change the course of a life,” Dr. Jain said.

Similarly, Tennis star Venus Williams said that she was forced to withdraw from the 2011 U.S. Open after a seven-year struggle with Sjögren's syndrome, which she described as an “invisible” and “miserable” disease.

She suffered from debilitating fatigue, joint pain, numbness, and swelling.

While autoimmune diseases are considered chronic and cannot be cured, some individuals experience remission, where symptoms may lessen or disappear temporarily.

Key medications to treat the host of autoimmune disorders include immunosuppressants, steroids, Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs), and replacement Therapy.

Beyond medications, adopting lifestyle modifications can also help. Studies have proven that dietary changes such as adopting anti-inflammatory, nutrient-dense diets (e.g., AIP diet) and avoiding processed foods can help autoimmune conditions.

Techniques like yoga and meditation can help manage Stress and boost immune responses. Regular, moderate exercise can also help reduce inflammation and maintain mobility.

Autoimmune Diseases: A Gateway For Comorbidities In Women

The persistent inflammation, immune system dysregulation, and organ stress caused by the disorders often also compound risks for

• Heart diseases like heart attacks, strokes, and atherosclerosis
• Endocrine issues like hypothyroidism, Type 1 diabetes,
• Kidney problems,
• Liver inflammation and scarring,
• Bone loss, including osteoporosis, joint deformities, and fractures
• Mobility, vision, and balance issues
• Recurrent infections
• Brain fog
• Memory problems
• Mental health conditions like depression and anxiety

“Early diagnosis, appropriate treatment, and societal education are key to improving disease outcomes,” Dr. Kumar noted.

“Despite the availability of many effective drugs, there is still an unmet need. We must strengthen gender-sensitive research focused on women’s immune health and build awareness at all levels to address this silent epidemic.”

Beyond being a medical challenge, multiple sclerosis (MS), which affects nearly three times as many women as men, raises emotional and physical concerns among women.

MS is a neurological condition that affects cognitive, emotional, motor, sensory, or visual functions. It is also a chronic autoimmune disease that is caused when a person’s immune system attacks their brain and spinal cord.

According to the UK-based MS International Federation, an estimated 2.8 million people live with MS worldwide, with prevalence increasing globally. However, women make up about 75 percent of MS patients globally.

However, women are disproportionately affected. The diagnosis gets more emotionally challenging for women as it often appears during early adulthood -- a key period for women building their careers, relationships, and families.

Estrogen, genetics and a lack of Vitamin D are major reasons for its increased prevalence in women.

Beyond the clinical symptoms, the anxiety, depression, mood changes, and stress, driven by uncertainty about disease progression, impact the daily life of women. Concerns about pregnancy, parenting, work, and long-term independence can further intensify the emotional burden.

“MS is significantly more prevalent in women, often striking during their most pivotal years. For many women, the diagnosis goes beyond a medical challenge; it becomes a profound emotional crossroads centered around family planning. They face daunting questions: Can I safely carry a pregnancy? Is breastfeeding possible? Will I have the physical stamina to care for a child? These are not merely clinical concerns; they are deeply personal anxieties about identity, motherhood, and the future,” Dr. Sudhir Kumar, Sr. Consultant Neurologist, Apollo Hospital, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, told HealthandMe.

“Multiple sclerosis is increasingly recognized as a disproportionate neurological burden among women. Globally, women are affected nearly two to three times more often than men, a pattern believed to arise from a complex interaction of immune system behavior, hormonal influences such as estrogen fluctuations, genetic susceptibility, and environmental triggers, including low Vitamin D levels and viral exposures,” added Dr. Manish Gupta, Director – Neurology, Max Super Specialty Hospital, Noida.

Symptoms of multiple sclerosis can be different from person to person. They can come and go or get worse over time. MS can affect any part of the central nervous system.

MS symptoms can worsen with heat or during other infections, such as urinary tract or respiratory infections.

Common symptoms can include:

• vision problems
• difficulty walking or keeping balance
• difficulty thinking clearly
• numbness or weakness, especially in the arms and legs
• muscle stiffness
• depression
• problems with sexual function or urination
• feeling very tired.

“No two patients experience MS in the same way. Symptoms depend on the location of demyelinating lesions in the brain or spinal cord, affecting vision, mobility, cognition, balance, or sensation. This biological variability makes early diagnosis and timely, high-efficacy intervention critical. The goal today is no longer just to manage relapses. It is to limit ongoing subclinical inflammation, prevent silent progression, and delay long-term disability,” Dr. Kumar said.

Why Treating Multiple Sclerosis Is Difficult

MS is an inflammatory condition that results from an autoimmune attack on myelin -- the fatty insulation that surrounds the nerves in the brain and spinal cord.

This disrupts the electrical impulses that are sent through the nerves to the rest of the body and results in scars (plaques or sclerosis).

“Multiple Sclerosis is one of the most complex neurological disorders we encounter in clinical practice, not because it is untreatable, but because it is unpredictable. MS is an immune-mediated disease characterized by inflammation and demyelination — damage to the protective myelin sheath that insulates nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord. When this insulation is stripped away, nerve signals slow down or become distorted, producing a wide spectrum of symptoms, varying from fatigue, blurred vision, and dizziness to limb weakness, imbalance, or sensory disturbances,” Dr. Subhash Kaul, Consultant Neurologist at KIMS Hospital, Hyderabad, told HealthandMe.

Many of these are invisible, fluctuating, and easily dismissed, both by patients and sometimes even by primary care providers. It is not uncommon for individuals in the early stages of MS to be misdiagnosed.

“This delay in recognising the disease is deeply concerning, because MS strikes people in the prime of their lives — when they are building careers, raising families, and contributing economically. If left untreated, the disease does not remain static; inflammation accumulates silently, relapses leave residual deficits, and disability compounds over time. This is precisely why early and appropriate treatment matters,” said Dr. Kaul.

Yet, experts stated that early diagnosis remains crucial. Regular neurological evaluation for persistent numbness, vision disturbance, or unexplained fatigue allows timely therapy. Disease-modifying treatments, adequate sunlight exposure, physical activity, and stress management help slow progression and preserve long-term neurological function.

“Multiple Sclerosis is not a series of unfortunate episodes; it is a silent, relentless fire. From the moment of onset, MS acts as a chronic, immune-mediated assault on the central nervous system, often causing irreversible damage long before the first visible symptom appears. As one of the leading causes of non-traumatic disability in young adults, we must confront a sobering reality: even when a patient appears clinically stable, “smoldering” inflammation frequently continues beneath the surface, gradually eroding brain volume and neural pathways,” Dr. Kumar said.

“By intervening decisively at the outset, we can suppress smoldering inflammation, preserve long-term neurological function, and give women the confidence to pursue the lives and families they envision,” he added.