Are you that kind of person who celebrates milestones of your life with getting a tattoo? These milestones could be anything, including the things you achieved, or the things you could not achieve but taught you a lesson. If you are this person, then you must have wondered if you can donate blood with all the tattoos on your body? There are lots of rumors on how can one donate blood, or if at all they are allowed to donate blood. So let's get into its nitty gritty!

As per American Red Cross, in most states, a tattoo is acceptable if the tattoo was applied by a state-regulated entity. Which means the tattoo artist must be licensed and must practice following all the guidelines, using sterile needles and ink that is not reused. The same is the guideline for cosmetic tattoos, which includes microblading of eyebrows. If it is done by a licensed artist in a regulated state, then it is acceptable.

However, if you got your tattoo in a state that does not regulate tattoo facilities, you must wait three months after it was applied.

The states that do not regulate tattoo facilities are:

• Arizona
• District of Columbia
• Georgia
• Idaho
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New York
• Pennsylvania
• Utah
• Wyoming

Body Piercing

Similar is the case with body piercings. It has to be done following the regulation, here the key is that the instrument used has to be a single-use equipment and disposable. Which means if you are getting it by a gun, or an earring cassette, they have to be disposable. In case you got your piercing with a reusable gun or a reusable instrument, you will be required to wait for three months.

Three-Month Wait Period

The reason behind the wait time is associated with the concerns of hepatitis, which could be easily transmitted from donors to patients through transfusion. All blood donations are thus tested for hepatitis B and hepatitis C, with several tests. However, not always are these tests are perfect, thus the three-month period is given.

What Dangers Loom Over?

Donating blood after getting a tattoo can be dangerous as unclean tattoo needle could carry bloodborne viruses, which are hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV. In 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updated its guideline, making the wait time shorter from one year to three months. This is because if you contract a bloodborne illness, it could be detectable within the period of 3 months.

What else makes you ineligible to donate blood?

There are other reasons why you may not be allowed to donate blood. As per the American Red Cross, you are not allowed to donate blood if you have

• hepatitis B or C
• HIV
• Chagas disease, which is a parasitic infection that kissing bugs cause
• leishmaniasis, a parasitic infection that sand flies cause
• Cruetzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), a rare disorder that leads to mental deterioration
• Ebola virus
• hemochromatosis, which means extreme build up of iron
• hemophilia
• jaundice
• sickle cell disease

As per the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Blood Bank, these conditions make you permanently ineligible from donating blood.

While there are certain conditions that makes your permanently ineligible, there are other conditions that makes you temporarily ineligible from donating blood. These include:

• If you have a bleeding condition, and have issues with your blood clotting
• If you have received transfusion from a person
• If you have cancer. Here, the eligibility depend son the type of cancer you have
• If you have recently underwent a dental or oral surgery. In such a case, you would have to wait for three days
• If you had a recent heart attack, heart surgery or angina. You must wait for 6 months
• If you are pregnant, you can only donate blood after 6 months after delivering your child

Do you smoke herbal cigarettes believing they are “natural”, “chemical-free”, and “tobacco-free”? You may be mistaken. New research, ahead of World No Tobacco Day 2026, has raised concerns over the growing popularity of herbal cigarettes, suggesting that herbal cigarettes are not safer than conventional cigarettes and may be equally harmful to health.

The new joint study by the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), US, has found that herbal cigarettes can produce emissions comparable to — and in some cases more harmful than — those generated by tobacco cigarettes.

The study, published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, highlight significant health concerns surrounding herbal smoking products, many of which currently fall outside India’s primary tobacco control laws.

Leaf-wrapped Herbal cigarette Most Hazardous

The study compared emissions from two of India’s best-selling tobacco cigarette brands and four popular herbal cigarette varieties containing ingredients such as basil, clove, cinnamon, mint, green tea, water lily, and chamomile.

Two of the herbal products also used tendu (ebony) leaves as wrappers — the same material commonly used in bidis, India’s most consumed smoking product.

Also read: Global Temperatures Likely To Stay Near Record Levels For Next Five Years: WMO

Researchers analyzed the physical, chemical, and oxidative properties of mainstream smoke generated from the products. According to the study, herbal cigarette smoke released extremely fine particles and toxic compounds at levels similar to or exceeding those found in tobacco smoke.

“Our findings challenge the widely held belief that tobacco-free means risk-free. Emissions from herbal cigarettes are comparable to or exceed those from tobacco cigarettes on nearly every metric we measured. Leaf-wrapped herbal variants turned out to be the most hazardous of all the samples tested,” said Prof. Sameer Patel, Assistant Professor at IITGN’s Department of Civil Engineering and Chemical Engineering.

Fine Particles And Oxidative Stress

Further, the researchers combusted each cigarette inside a sealed automated two-chamber system designed to mimic human inhalation patterns, to decode particle size, chemical composition, and oxidative potential.

Shockingly, the team found that particles smaller than 500 nanometers — associated with cardiovascular and respiratory diseases — were emitted at nearly 20 per cent higher concentrations in herbal cigarette smoke compared to tobacco smoke.

The study also measured the “oxidative potential” (OP) of smoke particles — a marker of their ability to generate reactive oxygen species that contribute to inflammation, lung damage, and vascular disease.

According to the researchers, particulate matter from herbal cigarettes showed significantly higher oxidative potential than tobacco cigarettes. Tendu-leaf-wrapped variants recorded OP levels nearly 49 per cent higher than paper-wrapped products.

Notably, one basil-filled herbal cigarette marketed as “100% natural” and “chemical-free” showed the highest lead concentration among all products tested.

Prof. Vishal Verma, Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering at UIUC and co-author of the study, said the results are particularly significant because many consumers believe nicotine-free products are less harmful.

“That finding is important because many consumers associate nicotine-free products with reduced harm,” he said.

Concerns Over Regulatory Gaps

Read More: Can Sugary Drinks Cause Brain Aging?

Researchers also pointed to regulatory loopholes surrounding herbal cigarettes. India’s Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, regulates tobacco products through health warnings, advertising restrictions, and public smoking rules. However, many products marketed as tobacco-free do not fall under the same regulatory framework.

Lead author Dr. Alok Kumar Thakur said several herbal cigarette brands claim therapeutic benefits, including relief from cough, anxiety, and sleep problems, despite limited scientific evidence on their safety.

“However, there is limited scientific evidence evaluating the emissions and toxicological impacts of these products,” he said.

The findings also align with the World No Tobacco Day 2026 under the theme, “Unmasking the appeal: countering nicotine and tobacco addiction.”

The researchers stressed the urgent need for evidence-based regulation and stricter oversight of alternative smoking products to prevent misleading health claims and protect public health.

Digestive disorders are becoming a global health issue affecting millions of people of all ages all over the world. Conditions such as acid reflux, fatty liver disease, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, constipation, and colorectal cancer are becoming more prevalent on a steady basis, fueled by changing diets, sedentary lifestyles, stress, poor sleep, alcohol consumption, and increasing obesity rates.

Early Symptoms Often Ignored

But digestive symptoms are often ignored until they are severe. Bloating, ongoing acidity, irregular bowel habits, abdominal discomfort, unexplained weight loss, or chronic fatigue are often brushed aside as temporary problems. In many cases, these early signs are reflective of an underlying gastrointestinal disease that is amenable to timely intervention.

Why Digestive Health Matters

This is a particularly important problem because digestive health impacts far more than just the stomach or intestines. The gut is key to immunity, metabolism, nutrient absorption, hormone regulation, and even mental health.

Damage to the gut can therefore impact many systems in the body. Colorectal cancer is diagnosed more frequently in younger adults worldwide, and fatty liver disease is one of the fastest-growing metabolic disorders worldwide. The increase in ultra-processed foods, reduced intake of fiber, and sedentary lifestyles have also played a part in digestive dysfunction in developed and developing countries alike.

This shift is also changing the way health care systems address preventive care and patient engagement.

Early screening, continuous monitoring, digital health tools, and data-driven care models are gaining importance in identifying digestive disorders before complications escalate.

Growing Role Of Preventive Care And Technology

As healthcare moves towards being more personalized and preventive, technology-enabled patient engagement and longitudinal health tracking are taking on a greater role in improving outcomes and supporting long-term disease management. Late diagnosis is still a big problem.

Many GI diseases develop silently for years before complications arise. For example, fatty liver disease can progress to liver inflammation or fibrosis without symptoms.

Similarly, inflammatory bowel diseases and gastrointestinal cancers are often more challenging to treat when diagnosed late. Diet also continues to be central to digestive health. Eating a diet high in fiber, staying well hydrated, getting enough physical activity, and eating less ultra-processed foods will promote healthy gut function and reduce risk over the long term.

World Digestive Health Day

World Digestive Health Day is a reminder that digestive symptoms shouldn’t be ignored or normalized. Early attention, timely diagnosis, and preventive care can greatly reduce the long-term burden of digestive disease worldwide.

(By Dr. Ashish Gautam, Principal Director, Robotic and Laparoscopic Surgery, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Patparganj, New Delhi)

Heart attacks are often associated with severe chest pain, but health experts warned that many cases present with unusual symptoms such as jaw pain and nausea that are frequently ignored or mistaken for less serious conditions.

Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) or heart attacks is the leading cause of death worldwide, responsible for roughly 9 million deaths annually

Speaking to HealthandMe, the experts highlighted unusual symptoms that may indicate a heart attack — particularly in women, elderly people, and individuals with diabetes. These include:

• Jaw pain
• Nausea
• Sweating
• Dizziness
• Unusual fatigue
• Breathlessness
• Discomfort in the neck, back, or arms

Ignoring Symptoms Can Worsen Outcomes

Dr. Prasanthi Ganji, HOD - Emergency Medicine at Manipal Hospital, Gurugram, called these “referred symptoms”, where pain from the heart travels through shared nerve pathways and is felt in other parts of the body, including the jaw, neck, shoulders, or back.

The expert explained that nausea may occur because reduced blood flow and stress on the heart can affect the nervous system and digestive response.

Also read: Can Extreme Heat Trigger Heart Palpitations? Expert Explains Risks

According to her, many patients mistake these symptoms for acidity, fatigue, or muscle strain, leading to dangerous delays in treatment.

“Recognizing these warning signs during the critical golden hour can significantly improve survival and reduce long-term heart damage,” Dr. Prasanthi told HealthandMe, adding that symptoms lasting more than a few minutes should never be ignored.

Heart Attack: Silent Symptoms Often Overlooked

Dr. Saifa M. Latheef, Associate Professor and Clinical Head – Emergency Medicine at ShardaCare-Healthcity, said public awareness about silent or unusual heart attack symptoms remains low.

“Many people believe that a heart attack always causes severe chest pain. However, this is not true in every case,” she said.

Dr. Saifa noted that some patients may experience heaviness in the jaw, vomiting sensation, breathlessness, or extreme weakness without chest pain, causing them to delay emergency care.

“A heart attack occurs when blood flow to the heart suddenly gets blocked, making immediate medical attention crucial to save heart muscle and prevent complications,” the doctor told HealthandMe.

Doctors Warn Against Delaying Treatment

The health experts also flagged the delaying attitude of patients, which increases the risk of poorer outcomes.

Dr. Nitin Jagasia, Regional Director Emergency, Western Region, Apollo Hospitals, said the biggest mistake patients make is waiting too long before seeking help.

“As an emergency doctor, I meet patients every day who say, ‘Doctor, I thought it would go away,’” he told HealthandMe.

Dr. Jagasia warned that heart attacks do not always begin with crushing chest pain and that unusual symptoms like nausea, sweating, stomach discomfort, or unexplained fatigue are often mistaken for acidity or stress.

“A simple rule to remember is this: if a symptom is sudden, severe, or frightening, do not wait for it to pass,” he said.

Read More: Early Exposure To Lead And Lithium Can Cause A Lifetime Of Mental Exhaustion

How To Prevent

The experts emphasized that timely treatment, CPR awareness, and rapid emergency response remain the strongest defences against sudden cardiac emergencies.

They also highlighted the importance of preventive measures such as regular exercise, healthy eating, stress management, quitting smoking, and controlling diabetes and blood pressure.