We have all seen movies where right before the hero starts fighting, he cracks his knuckles and makes it look like the coolest thing in the world! But then our parents told us that you should not crack your knuckles because that weakens your grip and hand strength. But is that true? While many people do say that they experience a small loss in strength immediately after they crack their knuckles, but are their long-term effects to it? And what is the sound actually coming from?

The reason why people crack their fingers is because the evident and sharp crack noise causes a sense of relief. Many people also do it when they have done an activity that required them to work with their hands a lot like typing or sewing, giving themselves a sense of satisfaction, similar to stretching after doing hard work. That "crack" sound can make some people cringe, while others find it strangely satisfying. Cracking your knuckles is a pretty common habit, but there are a lot of misunderstandings about it. Some people do it without even thinking, others can't stand the noise, and some can't crack their knuckles at all. You might have been told as a kid that it causes arthritis or makes your fingers swell up. But those are just old wives' tales. There's a real science behind this habit, and it's more interesting than you may think.

Why Do Knuckles Make That Popping Sound?

The "crack" isn't actually bones breaking or anything bad happening to your joints. It's a normal thing called "crepitus." This just means harmless popping, snapping, or grinding sounds that come from your joints. The main reason you hear this sound is because of gas bubbles in the fluid that cushions your joints. This fluid is called synovial fluid. When you move or stretch, these tiny bubbles form and then pop, making the sound. It's totally normal and doesn't hurt you. Sometimes, especially in bigger joints like your knees, shoulders, or ankles, the sound can also happen when the stretchy tissues that connect your bones (ligaments and tendons) move slightly and then snap back into place.

After you crack your knuckles, you can't usually do it again right away. You have to wait a bit. That's because the gas bubbles in your joint fluid have already popped, and it takes a little while for them to build up again. While cracking your knuckles doesn't give you arthritis, doing it too much might cause some problems. Doctors say that cracking them too often could make your joints a little wobbly and might even make your grip weaker. Also, if the stretchy tissues in your joints keep snapping over your bones, they can get irritated and sore.

When Joint Popping Might Mean Something More

Sometimes, a pop in your joint is just like cracking your knuckles, nothing to worry about. But other times, it can be a sign of something else. As we get older, the cushiony stuff in our joints, called cartilage, can start to wear down. This cartilage helps your bones move smoothly. When it gets thin or uneven, the bones can rub together, and that can make a grinding or popping sound. This is different from the pop you get from gas bubbles. If this grinding sound happens along with pain, it could be a sign of osteoarthritis. This is a type of joint problem that's more common in older people, but younger people can get it too, especially after a joint injury. If your joints hurt, especially in the morning or after you've been sitting still for a while, feel wobbly, or are hard to move, it's a good idea to see a doctor.

A 59-year-old woman came in for a follow-up visit for her shingles. During her appointment, she mentioned a small detail: she'd been feeling some skipped heartbeats, and her heart rate was a bit jumpy.

The woman had some preexisting health issues like being overweight, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and prediabetes. Her comment about the jumpy heartbeat caught the attention of the doctor.

These small complaints led her doctor to do a more detailed check-up. An EKG, a test that checks the heart's electrical activity, revealed some key signs. The results showed that she had already suffered a heart attack, even though she hadn't felt it.

This was a 2023 case study published in the Cureus, doctors call this a "silent heart attack," or silent myocardial infarction (SMI). Unlike a typical heart attack, a silent one has no symptoms or only very mild ones, so people don't realize what's happening and don't get medical help. These cases are often discovered by chance during a routine check-up.

While you may not have heard of such cases before, they are not as uncommon as you may think they are. According to American Heart Association, of the estimated 805,000 heart attacks each year in US, 170,000 of them are silent heart attacks.

As the name suggests, these attacks are difficult to recognize but not impossible. We spoke to consultant interventional cardiologists Pankaj Vinod Jariwala of Yashoda Hospitals and Dr. P Praveen Kumar of Karpagam Hospital Dr. Krunal Tamakuwala KD Hospital, to understand more about it.

Who Is At Risk for Silent Heart Attacks?

Silent heart attacks are becoming more common, and they aren't just affecting older men. Doctors are now seeing them in people as young as their late 30s and early 40s, especially those with high-stress jobs. Dr Jariwala said, “They mistake early signs for lifestyle issues: acidity after a heavy dinner, shoulder pain from sitting at a laptop, or tiredness from long hours.”

As Dr. Krunal Tamakuwala points out, the real danger is not that these heart attacks are completely "symptomless," but that their symptoms are so common that they are easily ignored. By the time a person finally sees a doctor, their heart may already be seriously damaged. “Sometimes, it arrives silently, hidden behind complaints we consider minor. That is why doctors urge patients not to ignore symptoms that linger or feel unusual, even if they seem harmless at first.” explained Dr Tamakuwala

What Are The Symptoms Of Silent Heart Attacks?

Many people mistake the early signs of a silent heart attack for everyday issues. Symptoms like

• Acidity
• Shoulder pain
• Tiredness

These are often brushed off as normal problems from a busy lifestyle. In places like India, people tend to make the problem worse by self-medicating with antacids or painkillers, which only delays getting proper medical help.

The reason these heart attacks are so confusing is due to something called referred pain. According to Dr. P Praveen Kumar, the nerves that carry pain signals from the heart are the same ones that connect to the stomach, back, and shoulders. This means that a problem with your heart can cause discomfort in another part of your body.

For people with diabetes, the situation is even more complicated. They may not feel the classic chest pain at all because their nerve sensitivity is reduced. For them, a silent heart attack might feel like

• Simple bloating
• Indigestion
• A dull backache.

The key is to remember that not all heart attacks announce themselves with a dramatic crushing pain. Dr Praveen warns, “f these symptoms are joined by sweating, breathlessness, or dizziness, you should seek medical help immediately.”

Doctors emphasize that lifestyle choices are key to keeping your heart healthy. Regular exercise, a balanced diet, quitting smoking, and managing stress are no longer optional, especially in countries like India, where heart disease is affecting younger people. “Everyday aches may feel ordinary, but when it comes to the heart, they could be the difference between early intervention and irreversible damage.”

If you’re someone who loves walking fast and maybe even got teased for it, here’s some good news. A research team from the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy at the LKS Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong (HKUMed), has found a strong link between walking speed and cancer risk. According to their study, people who walk at a faster pace have a significantly lower risk of developing cancer, especially lung cancer.

Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide, with nearly 20 million new cases each year. The American Cancer Society already recommends regular physical activity and strength training to help reduce cancer risk. Walking, being the most accessible form of exercise, has long been at the center of these efforts and now, speed may matter too.

How Walking Fast Can Reduce Cancer Risks

According to Professor Cheung Ching-lung, Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy at HKUMed, walking speed is a quick and reliable measure of physical function. It has long been linked to age-related conditions such as cardiovascular disease, dementia, and even overall mortality.

Recent evidence suggests skeletal muscle may help regulate inflammatory and metabolic pathways, which could explain the biological connection between walking speed and cancer risk. To explore this further, researchers at HKUMed examined the relationship using two approaches: self-reported walking pace among participants in the U.K., and a timed six-meter walking test in Hong Kong.

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The results were striking. Fast walkers in the U.K. showed a 13% lower overall risk of cancer, while participants in Hong Kong recorded a 45% decrease. The most dramatic effect was seen in lung cancer, where the risk dropped by as much as 53%. This points to faster walking as a potential way to protect the respiratory system and lower cancer risk.

“Walking speed may be an important marker of physiological resilience linked to cancer risk,” said Professor Cheung. “The lower levels of inflammation and healthier lipid profiles observed among fast walkers support the idea that they are in better overall health. This makes walking speed a simple yet effective tool for assessing health status.”

Brisk Walking Health Benefits

Walking offers a wide range of health benefits, and it is not limited to improving lung function. It also plays a key role in supporting heart health. Contrary to the popular belief that 10,000 steps a day are essential, research shows you can gain significant health benefits with fewer steps. Studies suggest that even 7,000 steps per day can reduce health risks, while as few as 3,867 steps may lower the risk of death. The message is clear: every step counts. Adding even 1,000 more steps than your usual routine is a practical way to begin.

ALSO READ: 5 Heart Attack Warning Signs Women Often Overlook, Blaming Menopause

Other than that, as per Mayo Clinic, Brisk Walking also has other benefits:

Brisk walking supports heart health, uplifts mood, aids weight management, and lowers the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes, cancer, and stroke. It also strengthens bones and muscles, improves balance, boosts energy and immunity, and sharpens memory and focus.

In his new autobiography Heartbeats, Björn Borg strips away the icy façade that once defined him on court. The book, set for U.S. release on 23 September by Diversion Books, begins with a raw account of his 1990s hospitalization after overdosing on “alcohol, drugs, pills, my preferred ways of self-medication.” It ends with a prostate cancer diagnosis, which he now faces in remission.

“It’s good,” the 69-year-old told The Associated Press in a recent video interview from his Stockholm home, “to have a good beginning and a good ending.” The 292-page memoir is a departure from the silence he cultivated during and after his playing days, offering stories of love, regret, excess and survival.

Walking away from tennis at 25

Borg retired shockingly early, at just 25, after losing both the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals in 1981 to his rival John McEnroe. While others saw a glittering career still ahead, Borg knew otherwise.

“My head was spinning,” he said. “And I knew I’m going to step away from tennis.”

That decision, he explains, left him unmoored. He returned briefly to the professional circuit in the early 1990s but never again at Grand Slam level. What followed was a long descent into substance abuse.

On court, Borg was famously known as “Ice-Borg”, a man of composure who never flinched. But he reveals that this restraint was a learned skill, born from shame as a 12-year-old banned by his local club for bad behavior.

Off court, that discipline dissolved. By his own account, panic attacks and depression pushed him into cocaine use starting in 1982. “The first time I tried cocaine,” Borg writes, “I got the same kind of rush I used to get from tennis.”

The rush quickly became reliance. “It really destroys you,” Borg said of drugs. “I was happy to get away from tennis, to get away from that life. But I had no plan what to do. I had no people behind me to guide me in the right direction.”

Also Read: “Day by day, year by year,” Is How Bjorn Borg Takes Life After His Prostate Cancer Diagnosis

Overdoses and shame

Borg details two overdoses that landed him in hospital, one in Holland in the early 1990s, and another in 1989 in Milan, which he insists was an accident rather than a suicide attempt. The darkest moment, he admits, came when he awoke in a hospital bed to see his father looking down at him.

“That was the worst shame of all,” he writes.

These incidents, combined with spiraling personal struggles, forced Borg to confront how far he had fallen from the grace of his early sporting stardom.

Name: drops and surreal encounters

Heartbeats is not a typical sports autobiography. Alongside harrowing stories of addiction and recovery, Borg mixes in extraordinary encounters: a water-skiing shoulder injury before the 1977 U.S. Open, receiving death threats during the 1981 U.S. Open, being robbed at gunpoint after accepting payment in cash, and facing coin-throwing spectators in Rome.

The book name-drops Donald Trump, Nelson Mandela, Tina Turner, Andy Warhol, Yasser Arafat, and even “my old friend Hugh Hefner.” These anecdotes place Borg not only in tennis history but within a swirl of 20th-century celebrity and politics.

“People will be very surprised what really happened,” Borg said. “For me to come out after all these years, all I went through, I went through some difficult times, it’s a relief for me to do this book. I feel so much better. No secrets anymore.”

A candid look at survival

The memoir also traces his strained relationships, with parents, with his children, and with his own sense of identity after leaving professional sport. By his account, retirement robbed him of purpose, and drugs filled the void.

Borg acknowledges that his descent was partly a reaction to the structure of his tennis life: “I was happy to get away from tennis … but I had no plan what to do.” Without the rhythm of tournaments and training, he spiraled.

Yet he insists he has rebuilt his life. Now, after cancer treatment, he says he is proud of where he stands: sober, reflective, and still connected to the sport he once dominated.

Looking ahead, without secrets

For Borg, writing Heartbeats is as much about catharsis as it is about record-keeping. He admits that his privacy once shielded him from scrutiny but also kept him trapped in silence about his struggles. Now, at 69, he frames his story differently: beginning with a near-death overdose, ending with cancer remission, and filling the middle with unvarnished honesty.

“I went through some difficult times,” he said, “but now I feel so much better.”

Björn Borg’s memoir offers not just the tale of a tennis great, but a portrait of a man forced to confront addiction, shame, and mortality, and who, at last, seems at peace.