The heat waves are rising all over the world and causing a lot of damage. While there are issues of dehydration and heat strokes, studies are suggesting that it might also be responsible for declining mental health, the heat among other things is not only affecting the physicality of human beings but is also having adverse mental health.

Emotional distress: The heat can trigger mood swings, making you feel irritable, anxious, depressed, or even aggressive. You may not be able to predict your reaction, you may be good one moment and then any minor inconvenience will make you angry or sad. Heat often triggers that helplessness in people.

Scattered Focus: Concentrating on tasks becomes a struggle when it's hot. Simple things feel overwhelming, and staying focused is a challenge. While you may be in the zone working on completing something, the heat and sweating will disrupt your flow and then you will not be able to focus on anything other than the heat.

Sleepless Nights: High temperatures, especially at night, disrupt your sleep. This lack of rest can leave you feeling tired, and grumpy, and worsen existing mental health issues. All humans require a comfortable temperature to sleep in, if your body is too wound up or heated up, it will not be able to relax and sleep.

Feeling the Pressure: The heat can pile on stress and make you feel overwhelmed. Concerns about the heat itself or its impact on other aspects of your life can contribute to this feeling. You will feel overwhelmed and unable to work on anything else. The heat makes you feel a certain helplessness, as you cannot stop the sun or turn down the heat.

Body Blues: The heat can cause physical symptoms that affect your mental well-being. Headaches, fatigue, dizziness, and nausea can all contribute to anxiety and low mood. When your body is already fatigued, the urge to do anything else disappears. Your body is drained of energy to function at all and will seek rest and sleep.

Behavioural Shifts: The heat can influence your behaviour. You might act impulsively or have difficulty managing anger. It's like the heat turns up your emotional thermostat. When your body and brain are overheating, it is difficult to think straight and you will grasp at straws to release this energy and pressure off of you.

Some other side effects of the heat are.

• Mental Health Flare-Ups: If you already have a mental health condition, hot weather can worsen your symptoms. Existing depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia might feel more intense.
• Heat and Suicide Risk: Studies show a disturbing link between hot weather and increased suicide rates, particularly among men and older adults. Hot weather can be a tipping point for those already struggling.
• Heatwave Hospitalizations: When temperatures soar, people with existing mental health issues may require increased hospitalization. This highlights the need for healthcare systems to be prepared for heat waves.
• Climate Change and Mental Health: Climate change is leading to more frequent heatwaves. Research suggests this could lead to a rise in mental health problems and suicides. Taking action against climate change is crucial for protecting mental well-being.

The bulge that appears when an internal organ pushes through a weakened muscle wall will not recede with rest or medication—it will, in most cases, grow larger and more uncomfortable over time. Surgery is the only definitive treatment. What has changed significantly in recent years is what that surgery looks like and what recovery from it requires.

Dr Rajesh Sharma, Director – General Surgery, Minimal Access & Bariatric Surgery, CK Birla Hospitals, Jaipur, in an interview with Health and Me, spoke about the introduction of robotics in hernia treatment and how it can benefit patients.

How hernia surgeries are becoming less painful

With advances in surgical technology, minimally invasive approaches have significantly improved patient outcomes. One of the most important developments in recent years is robotic-assisted hernia surgery using the da Vinci Surgical System. In robotic surgery, the surgeon operates from a console equipped with a high-definition, three-dimensional, magnified view of the surgical field. The robotic system translates the surgeon’s hand movements into extremely precise movements of miniaturised instruments inserted through small incisions. The system also filters natural hand tremors and provides a greater range of motion than the human wrist, enabling meticulous dissection and suturing.

For hernia repair, these capabilities allow surgeons to perform delicate steps such as accurate defect closure and optimal mesh placement, which are important for the long-term durability of the repair.

Benefits for patients

Robotic hernia repair offers several advantages for patients:

1. Smaller incisions and minimal scarring
2. Reduced postoperative pain
3. Lower risk of wound complications
4. Shorter hospital stay
5. Faster return to normal activities

Because the procedure is minimally invasive, most patients experience earlier mobilisation and quicker overall recovery compared with traditional open surgery. Robotic surgery is particularly useful in complex, recurrent, or large ventral hernias, where precise reconstruction of the abdominal wall is important. While not every hernia requires a robotic approach, the technology expands the surgeon’s ability to perform advanced minimally invasive repairs with improved ergonomics and visualisation.

The future of hernia surgery

The integration of robotic platforms such as the da Vinci system represents a major step forward in modern general surgery. By combining surgical precision with minimally invasive techniques, robotic hernia repair aims to enhance patient comfort, improve recovery, and deliver durable surgical outcomes.

The liver and heart are two of the most vital organs of the body, and although they perform very different functions, they are closely connected. When the liver is not functioning properly, it can place significant stress on the heart and circulatory system of the body.

Liver disease not only affects the digestion process, metabolism, and detoxification but can also trigger serious cardiovascular changes that may go unnoticed in the early stages. Understanding this particular connection is significant for timely diagnosis and better overall care.

The Liver-Heart Connection

The liver helps to regulate the flow of blood, fluid balance, cholesterol metabolism, and inflammation as well. When liver disease develops—whether due to fatty liver, hepatitis, cirrhosis, or alcohol-related damage—all these processes become disturbed.

As a result of the same, the heart may have to work harder to maintain circulation, while blood vessels may also undergo certain changes that impact blood pressure and delivery of oxygen as well.

Changes In Blood Circulation

In well-advanced liver disease, especially cirrhosis, the flow of blood through the liver becomes restricted. This can also increase pressure in the portal vein, a condition known as portal hypertension. At the same point in time, blood vessels in the rest of the body may also widen, causing a drop in effective blood pressure.

To compensate, the heart pumps faster and harder. With the passage of time, this constant strain can weaken cardiac function and even lead to a condition sometimes referred to as cirrhotic cardiomyopathy, where the heart does not respond normally under stress.

Fluid Retention And Heart Stress

Liver disease often causes the body to retain both salt and water. This can also lead to swelling in the legs, abdomen, and surrounding tissues as well. Extra fluid in the body increases the workload on the heart, making it more difficult for it to pump blood in an efficient way. In severe cases, this may also contribute to shortness of breath, fatigue, and worsening cardiovascular strain.

Inflammation And Metabolic Impact

Some of the conditions, such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, are also linked with diabetes, obesity, high levels of cholesterol, and high blood pressure – all of which are the major risk factors for heart disease. Chronic inflammation, well-associated with liver damage, may further increase the risk of atherosclerosis and other cardiac complications.

GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy have shown significant benefits for people with diabetes and obesity. However, not everyone experiences the same results.

Now, a study suggests that this variation may be due to genetic resistance, which means that some people are biologically less responsive to these medications, making these drugs less effective.

Also Read: NAFLD to MASLD: Experts Explain Why This Common Yet Dangerous Liver Condition Got Renamed

The new study by scientists at Stanford University in the US showed that about 10 per cent of the general population carry genetic variants that lead to what the researchers called “GLP-1 resistance”.

The GLP-1- receptor agonist drugs typically work by mimicking the hormone GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1), which naturally helps regulate blood sugar by stimulating insulin release. The process slows the emptying of the stomach and reduces appetite.

However, in individuals with certain genetic variants, the team found that higher levels of GLP-1 did not regulate blood sugar better.

The researchers noted that the findings, published in the journal Genome Medicine, may be key to developing new therapies for people with GLP-1 resistance.

“There are a whole class of medications that are insulin sensitizers, so perhaps we can develop medications that will allow people to be sensitized to GLP-1s or find formulations of GLP-1, like the longer-acting versions, that avoid the GLP-1 resistance,” said Anna Gloyn, professor of pediatrics and of genetics at Stanford Medicine.

The Gene Linked to GLP-1 Resistance

Also read: Foundayo: US FDA Approves Eli Lilly’s GLP-1 Weight Loss Pill

To zero in on the gene resistant to GLP-1 drugs, the team conducted experiments in humans. They traced this resistance to a PAM variant known as p.S539W.

PAM (peptidyl-glycine alpha-amidating monooxygenase) is an enzyme that is uniquely capable of activating many hormones in the body, including GLP-1.

While the researchers suspected that people with the PAM variant would have lower levels of GLP-1 in their blood, it actually increased levels of GLP-1. Although the exact mechanism is still unclear, experiments in both humans and mice confirmed signs of reduced response to GLP-1.

Analyzing diabetes drug trial data, they found that individuals with these variants were less able to lower their blood sugar levels even after six months of treatment. This suggests that despite having more circulating GLP-1, their bodies are less responsive to it.

“When I treat patients in the diabetes clinic, I see a huge variation in response to these GLP-1-based medications and it is difficult to predict this response clinically,” said Mahesh Umapathysivam, an endocrinologist and clinical researcher at Adelaide University in Australia.

“This is the first step in being able to use someone’s genetic make-up to help us improve that decision-making process,” he added.

Also read: Can Weight Loss Jabs Surge Divorce Rates? What Experts Are Saying

Importantly, participants with the PAM variants did not respond differently to other common diabetes treatments, including sulfonylureas, metformin, and DPP-4i.

The finding may help develop precision medicine, the researchers said. Knowing ahead of time who is likely to respond would help patients get on the right drugs faster, Gloyn said.

Reasons Why Ozempic May Not Help All People Lose Weight

Ozempic is primarily indicated for type 2 diabetes management. But some doctors may prescribe it for weight loss in appropriate patients without diabetes.

Previous research has shown that medical conditions such as sleep apnea, along with certain common medications, such as antidepressants, steroids, and contraceptives, can hamper the process of shedding extra pounds.

Another major reason that can hamper weight loss is the side-effects of these drugs that can prompt a person to halt their prescription mid-way.