We all enjoy a good slushie every now and then. While they do not add any great nutritional value to our meal, they are a delightful snack made with shredded ice and sugar. To make them more accessible to people who cannot or do not wish to have sugar, there are many sugar free options to pick from. However, a recent study has revealed that sugar-free slushies containing glycerol, which is a sugar alcohol used to maintain their icy texture, can cause severe health problems in young children. The study was published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, it explains that having these sugar free slushies can lead to children having a condition called "glycerol intoxication syndrome". In this condition there is a rapid drop in blood sugar, reduced consciousness, and a buildup of acid in the blood.

Rapid Onset of Symptoms

Kids who drank slushies with glycerol got sick very quickly. Within an hour, they started showing serious symptoms. Their blood sugar would plummet, sometimes dangerously low. Many became confused or lost consciousness, and some even had seizures. Doctors studied 21 children who got sick from these drinks between 2018 and 2024. Most of these kids were very young, seven years old or younger. By the time they got to the hospital, many were in bad shape, either unconscious or barely awake. This quick reaction time makes it especially scary, as parents might not realize the slushy is the cause right away. It's important to recognize these signs fast.

Why is Glycerol Harmful?

According to WebMD Glycerol is a type of naturally occurring alcohol, and it's used in lots of food products. You might find it in protein bars, diet foods, and even sugar-free candies. In slushies, it plays a key role in keeping the drink icy. Usually, slushies use tons of sugar to stop them from freezing completely. But because people are trying to cut back on sugar, companies are using glycerol instead. This is especially true in places with "sugar taxes," where sugary drinks cost more. So, to make sugar-free versions, they add glycerol. This switch means more kids are being exposed to this ingredient, which can be harmful to them.

What Does Glycerol Damage Children's Health?

The study explains that little kids are more at risk from glycerol because their bodies are still growing and developing. Their tiny bodies and young metabolisms might not be able to handle glycerol as well as adults' bodies can. This means that even a small amount can cause a big problem. Also, the amount of glycerol in a slushy can vary, and it's hard to know exactly how much is safe. Factors like how fast they drink it, if they've eaten recently, or if they've been exercising can also make a difference. Even the standard size of a slushy drink can be too much for a small child. This makes it hard to give a safe dose.

Health authorities in the UK and Ireland have already started warning about glycerol in slushies. They suggest that kids under four shouldn't have them at all, and older kids should only have one at most. But doctors are worried that these warnings might not be enough. They point out that it's hard to know how much glycerol is actually in each drink, making it difficult to give safe advice. Parents are being told to be very careful and consider avoiding these drinks altogether for young children. In the US, glycerol is approved for use in food, but parents should still be aware of the potential risks. More research is needed to understand the full impact.

One in four or 25 percent of adults with type-2 diabetes in India also suffer from liver fibrosis, according to an alarming study published in The Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia journal today.

With data from more than 9,000 patients across the country, it is the largest ever real-world survey of liver fibrosis in type 2 diabetes from any low- or middle-income country.

While fatty liver disease has been touted as the most common liver condition among diabetes patients, the new study established liver fibrosis as the real danger among people with high blood sugar.

“Type 2 diabetes is closely linked to fatty liver disease (also known as MASLD). But how common is liver Fibrosis — the real danger — in Indian diabetics? Our answer: 1 in 4 has clinically significant liver fibrosis. One in 20 already has probable cirrhosis. Most had no symptoms. We propose liver fibrosis as the ‘4th major complication’ of diabetes,” said Ashish Kumar, from Ganga Ram Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (GRIPMER), from Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, in a post on social media platform X.

Also read: About 84% IT Employees Are Suffering With Fatty Liver Disease - Why Screenings Are Necessary For Corporate Workers

What Did The Study Find?

Fatty liver is typically the first and reversible stage of liver disease, where excess fat builds up in liver cells. Left untreated, it progresses to liver fibrosis, which is the excessive accumulation of scar tissue (collagen) in the liver resulting from chronic inflammation. The condition then progresses to the third and late stage, irreversible scarring (fibrosis) of the liver. The final stage is liver cancer.

The DiaFib-Liver Study included a total of 9,202 adults with type-2 diabetes patients who underwent FibroScan (VCTE) to assess liver fibrosis in routine diabetes care.

Of these:

• 26 percent had clinically significant fibrosis,
• 14 percent had advanced fibrosis,
• 5 percent had probable cirrhosis
• 65 percent had fatty liver disease.

• obesity
• dyslipidaemia
• kidney problems
• diabetes duration ≥10 years.

Fibrosis: The Screening Target

The study suggested the urgent need to integrate fibrosis screening into national diabetes programs.

“One in four adults with type 2 diabetes in India has clinically significant liver fibrosis and one in twenty already has probable cirrhosis, establishing advanced liver disease as a 'fourth major complication' of diabetes,” said the researchers.

“The DiaFibLiver Study calls for: Fibrosis — not steatosis — as the screening target. FibroScan integration into routine diabetes care. Moving beyond ultrasound-based referral,” Jha said.

“We hope this data from India adds to the global conversation on diabetes and liver disease,” he added.

Also read: The Silent Rise of Fatty Liver Disease: How India-Specific Guidelines Can Help

The findings highlight the urgent need to:

• move beyond steatosis
• systematically integrate fibrosis assessment into routine diabetes care,
• deploy non-invasive tools such as vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE) in community practice
• define screening strategies,
• evaluate therapeutic interventions.

Everyday Habits That Harm the Liver

Certain lifestyle choices can accelerate liver damage, such as:

Overeating processed or fried foods

High sugar intake (soft drinks, sweets, desserts)

Physical inactivity or prolonged sitting

Ignoring health issues like diabetes or hypertension

Crash dieting or taking unprescribed supplements.

How To Improve Liver Health?

Early screening and detection are key to prevent irreversible stages. Yet liver disease can be prevented with lifestyle changes such as:

• Eating a balanced diet with vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and lean protein
• Engaging in at least 30 minutes of exercise daily
• Staying hydrated to help the liver flush out toxins
• Avoiding alcohol and smoking
• Avoiding self-medication and unnecessary pills
• Getting routine health screenings.

New Delhi: Every day, the brain processes hundreds of choices. Most pass unnoticed: what to wear, which route to take, what to eat. But accumulated over hours and across competing demands, this constant decision-making exacts a cost. Decision fatigue is the gradual erosion of the brain’s capacity to make good choices, and over time it affects both mental functioning and physical health. Dr Shivi Kataria, Consultant – Psychiatry, CK Birla Hospitals, Jaipur, addressed the problem of plenty and said that it could take a toll on mental health in certain circumstances.

Read more: India Launches 1st Repository Of Data On Major Psychiatric Disorders

What are the signs?

The earliest signs tend to be emotional. Simple decisions start to feel disproportionately heavy. Choosing between two options takes longer than it should. Irritability surfaces. Tasks that once felt manageable begin to pile up as the mental energy required to engage with them thins. Procrastination, self-doubt, and a general withdrawal from decisions are common responses, with the brain essentially rationing what little capacity remains.

Cognitive symptoms follow. Concentration narrows. Judgement becomes less reliable. Small errors accumulate. People in this state often describe feeling mentally stuck, present in the room but unable to engage with any clarity or momentum.

The physical dimension is frequently overlooked. Headaches, low energy, disrupted sleep, and difficulty sustaining attention are all associated with sustained decision overload. These symptoms register what prolonged mental strain produces in the body and are worth taking seriously.

Who is most at risk?

Decision fatigue affects most people at some point, but the load is not evenly distributed. Professionals in high-responsibility roles, caregivers, and anyone managing multiple competing demands make a disproportionately high number of decisions each day. By the end of a long day, the quality of choices made about food, purchases, relationships, or work often reflects exhaustion more than intention.

Read more: Smartphone Overuse Linked To Rising Risk Of Eating Disorders Among Youth, Study Finds

Is there a solution?

Reducing the number of decisions that require active thought each day is the most direct intervention. Fixed routines for meals, schedules, and recurring tasks remove the need to deliberate repeatedly over the same ground. This is conservation of mental energy, and it compounds over time.

Important decisions are better made earlier in the day, when the brain is rested and cognitive resources are intact. Short breaks during sustained work periods allow partial recovery. Even brief physical activity or deliberate rest between decision-heavy tasks restores some capacity.

The brain has a finite decision-making budget each day. Spending it on low-stakes choices leaves less available for the ones that carry real consequence.

While fevers are often overlooked and brushed aside or even managed with antibiotics — a dangerous trend — an alarmingly nationwide study linked it to infectious diseases with far-reaching consequences.

The report, based on data of over one lakh individuals in India with fever, between 2023 and 2025, showed that these were not vague or self-limiting, but in more than 30 percent or one-third cases had clear links to serious infections, such as dengue, and typhoid.

According to the report by healthcare diagnostics company Thyrocare, the fevers were mostly linked with

• typhoid – in over 18 percent cases
• dengue -- over 14 percent cases.
• Other diseases include malaria, chikungunya, and leptospirosis.

Presence Of Multiple Infections

Importantly, the findings highlighted the presence of co-infections in 10 per cent cases. The most common was a combination of dengue and typhoid.

Dr Preet Kaur, Chief Scientific Officer, Thyrocare, said that a significant number of patients carry serious infections, sometimes more than one at a time, revealing patterns that simple assumptions cannot capture.

"Beyond the visible rise in temperature, laboratory markers highlight hidden stress on organs, from drops in platelet counts to elevated liver enzymes, underscoring that fever is a systemic signal, not an isolated event," she added.

Also read: ‘Breakbone Fever’: US CDC Warns Of Dengue Surge Across 17 Countries

Further, the report noted that dengue positivity declined significantly over the three-year report period, malaria increased despite its lower overall base.

Typhoid and chikungunya rose in 2024 before easing in 2025 but remained present across the testing population.

Also read: Drug Resistance Driving Severe Typhoid Disease, Death Among Children Under-5s in India: Lancet Study

Fever: Men Vs Women

The report noted that more women were affected with typhoid than men. On the contrary, men reported more malaria cases.

More than 32 percent of females had fevers compared to 29 percent of men. Fevers in women was largely driven by higher typhoid detection (21 percent vs 15 percent).

Malaria affected men more than twice as often as women (1.1 percent vs 0.5 percent).

The lab reports also revealed key physiological markers such as platelet counts and liver function among people with fever, dengue, and malaria.

Low platelet levels were seen in

• 27 percent of patients with fever
• 80 percent malaria positive patients
• 37 percent dengue-positive patients

• All fever patients (56 percent) showed elevated SGOT levels and 37 percent SGPT
• Liver stress was seen across patients with dengue, malaria and leptospirosis.

Dengue cases rose throughout the year and typically peaked around October.

Typhoid positivity steadily fell from 2023 to its lowest in 2025. Despite a mild monsoon spike each year, 2025 remained consistently lower overall.

Chikungunya cases rose gradually from lower, volatile levels in 2023, peaked sharply in 2024, and moderated to a softer trend in 2025.

Malaria positivity remained relatively low overall but increased during the monsoon months, with transmission peaking between May and September.

Over the three-year period, malaria positivity rose from 0.5 percent to 1.1 percent, indicating a gradual increase despite its lower overall base.