Do you find yourself struggling to fall asleep or stay asleep throughout the night? You’re not alone. Insomnia is a prevalent sleep disorder that impacts millions of individuals worldwide, disrupting their ability to get sufficient rest. While sleep requirements differ from person to person, most adults need at least seven hours of quality sleep each night. If you’re frequently tossing and turning, certain natural remedies and lifestyle changes may help restore a restful night’s sleep.

Mindfulness Meditation for Deep Relaxation

Practicing mindfulness meditation, which involves slow and steady breathing while observing thoughts and sensations without judgment, can significantly enhance relaxation. This method is known to reduce stress, improve focus, and promote a sense of calm, all of which contribute to better sleep. A study conducted in 2011 revealed that individuals who practiced mindfulness meditation experienced notable improvements in their sleep patterns. Taking 15 minutes each morning or evening to meditate, or following a guided session online, can help create a soothing pre-sleep routine.

Mantra Repetition for Mental Calmness

Repeating a mantra or a positive affirmation before bed can help quiet the mind and induce relaxation. A 2015 study found that homeless women who engaged in mantra repetition experienced reduced symptoms of insomnia. Select a calming phrase, such as “I am at peace” or "Sleep comes naturally to me" and repeat it mentally or aloud before bedtime to help ease your mind and transition into sleep more smoothly.

Yoga to Relieve Stress

Yoga has been linked to enhanced sleep quality, reduced stress, and improved mental clarity. Styles like yin yoga and restorative yoga focus on slow movements and controlled breathing, making them ideal for relaxation. Incorporating yoga into your weekly routine, or practicing a short session before bedtime, can prepare both your body and mind for restful sleep.

Exercise for Healthier Sleep Patterns

Engaging in regular physical activity not only benefits overall health but also enhances sleep quality. A 2015 study found that individuals who exercised for at least 150 minutes per week reported fewer symptoms of insomnia, along with decreased anxiety and depression levels. Aim for at least 20 minutes of moderate exercise daily, but try to complete workouts earlier in the day to avoid overstimulation before bedtime.

Massage Therapy for Relaxation

Massage therapy has been found to improve sleep quality by reducing stress, pain, and anxiety. While professional massages can be beneficial, self-massage or help from a partner can also promote relaxation. Focus on gentle techniques to calm the body and mind before heading to bed.

Magnesium for Muscle Relaxation

Magnesium is an essential mineral that helps relax muscles and alleviate stress, thereby promoting restful sleep. A 2012 study found that individuals who took 500 mg of magnesium daily for two months experienced significant improvements in sleep quality. Magnesium can be taken as a supplement or absorbed through a warm bath infused with magnesium flakes.

Lavender Oil for a Calming Effect

Lavender is widely recognized for its ability to improve mood and encourage relaxation. Studies suggest that lavender oil capsules can enhance sleep quality, particularly in individuals suffering from anxiety or depression. Diffusing lavender oil in the bedroom or adding a few drops to your pillow can create a tranquil atmosphere conducive to restful sleep.

Melatonin for Sleep Regulation

Melatonin, a hormone that regulates the sleep-wake cycle, has been shown to aid in falling asleep faster and improving overall sleep quality. A 2016 study found that melatonin supplementation significantly benefits individuals experiencing insomnia. Taking 1 to 5 mg of melatonin 30 minutes to two hours before bedtime can facilitate an easier transition into sleep.

When To Consult A Doctor

If natural remedies and lifestyle changes fail to improve sleep quality, seeking medical advice may be necessary. Chronic insomnia could be linked to underlying health conditions such as diabetes, thyroid disorders, cardiovascular issues, or respiratory diseases. In such cases, behavioral therapy or medical intervention may be required to address persistent sleep disturbances.

Body odour is natural, but sometimes it may signify a health issue. When body odour is persistent, unusual, and/or changes suddenly, it could indicate a possible health problem. Sweat itself is odourless, but when it interacts with bacteria on the skin, it creates the odour that we associate with body odour. Some of the factors that may alter the way the body smells are medications, hormones, and lifestyle choices. Dr Pooja Kanumuru, a dermatologist at Apollo Clinic, Indiranagar, addressed this for Health and Me.

What does body odour indicate?

There are medical conditions that can cause body odour to be unusual or excessive: bromhidrosis; bacterial and/or fungal skin infections; and systemic diseases such as diabetes, liver disease, and kidney disease. For example, a diabetic with poor management may have a fruity-smelling body odour, whereas an infected person may have a foul body odour due to bacterial activity.

Body odour becomes an issue when there is no improvement despite proper hygiene. If body odour is associated with other symptoms such as fatigue, unexplained weight loss, fever, and/or abnormal skin changes, these should be addressed to determine the cause and seek appropriate assistance. Medically associated body odour does not decrease with normal methods such as bathing and/or the use of deodorants but tends to persist.

Factors that affect body odour

Body odour can also be affected by the following:

Hormonal and metabolic changes during certain periods of life (for example, puberty, menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause) can change the amount of sweat produced, which can also alter the intensity of its smell.

Thyroid disorders, especially hyperthyroidism, can sometimes result in increased sweating.

Rare metabolic disorders, such as trimethylaminuria, can result in a strong, fishy-smelling body odour due to the inability to break down certain substances in the body.

Clinical insights of body odour

It is interesting how certain unusual odours can offer important clinical insights. For example, if a person has a fruity odour, this could indicate difficulties with diabetes control. A fishy smell could be a sign of a metabolic disorder, while an ammonia-like smell may indicate problems with kidney function. Meanwhile, musty or foul odours may suggest an infection or liver dysfunction. While these odours cannot be used as stand-alone diagnoses, they can help guide further medical evaluation.

Lifestyle changes to improve body odour

Diet and lifestyle choices significantly affect body odour. For example, foods such as garlic, onions, spicy foods, red meat, and alcohol can exacerbate body odour, while poor hydration, high stress levels, smoking, and obesity can worsen it further. Additionally, wearing very tight or non-breathable clothing may cause perspiration and bacteria to become trapped, thereby worsening body odour.

Keeping your body clean, applying the right type of antiperspirant, wearing breathable materials, and maintaining a healthy diet can all help in managing body odour. However, if body odour persists or worsens, you should consult a doctor. A prompt medical assessment can identify the cause and allow your physician to discuss possible treatments, including topical medications and procedures that reduce excessive sweating.

The human skin is the body's largest organ, a dynamic barrier spanning roughly 1.7 square meters in the average adult. It blocks pathogens, regulates temperature, and signals systemic distress.

What compromises this barrier most reliably are decisions made in the course of an ordinary day; how a body is cleaned, what materials rest against it for hours, and whether moisture is managed or ignored

Most skin infections, rashes, and fungal conditions during primary care can be prevented. They develop when the skin is exposed to moisture, friction, or microbes for extended periods, which weakens its natural protective barrier. Once this barrier is compromised, bacteria, fungi, and irritants can take hold. Seeing it this way makes hygiene a matter of health, not just routine care.

Moisture, Friction, and Microbial Load: The Three-Factor Model

Many skin conditions linked to hygiene arise from a combination of factors, including excess moisture, repeated friction, and unchecked microbial growth.

Moisture, whether it is from sweat, urinary leakage, or inadequate drying after bathing, softens the stratum corneum, the protective outermost layer.

Softened skin abrades under friction far more readily than dry skin. In zones like the groin, underarm, and the skin folds of infants, this combination creates ideal conditions for intertrigo, candidal infections, and bacterial folliculitis.

Infants represent the most vulnerable case study. Diaper dermatitis, affecting a significant proportion of children at some point in infancy, develops when occlusive material holds urine and stool in prolonged skin contact.

The enzymatic activity of fecal matter sharply raises skin surface pH, stripping the acid mantle and triggering an inflammatory response. Consistent nappy changes, appropriate absorbent capacity, and barrier creams together are solutions to this cycle. When any one element is compromised, either frequency of change or material quality, dermatitis rates climb demonstrably.

For adolescent and adult women, an equivalent vulnerability exists during menstruation. Extended contact with saturated absorbent materials elevates local moisture and pH, producing an environment conducive to bacterial vaginosis and vulvar dermatitis. Clinical guidance consistently recommends regular pad or tampon changes irrespective of flow volume, the interval matters as much as saturation levels.

Infection Pathways That Begin with Hygiene Gaps

As per the systematic review by Bowen et al. (2015) in PLOS ONE, over 162 million children in low- and low-middle-income countries are affected by impetigo at any given time, with most cases occurring in tropical, resource-limited regions. These figures underline how everyday hygiene practices influence skin health and help prevent infections from spreading.

Urinary tract infections in women and girls are closely linked to perineal hygiene. The urethra’s proximity to the rectum makes it easy for faecal bacteria, particularly Escherichia coli, to spread if cleaning is inadequate. Changing underwear regularly, wiping front to back, and using breathable fabrics can help reduce this risk.

Fungal infections require particular attention in warm, humid climates, where heat and moisture create ideal conditions for dermatophytes to thrive and persist. As per Gupta, Chaudhry, and Elewski (2003) in Dermatologic Clinics, tinea corporis, tinea cruris, and other superficial dermatophytoses show increased prevalence in developing and tropical countries due to elevated temperatures and sustained humidity, which create an environment conducive to fungal proliferation.

India's combination of heat, humidity, and fabric choices creates a near-constant conducive environment for dermatophyte infections like tinea cruris (groin ringworm). These infections respond well to antifungal treatment but return when underlying hygiene practices are not followed appropriately. Dry skin after bathing, moisture-wicking undergarments, and clean, well-ventilated footwear are among the most evidence-backed preventive measures available.

Hence for females, during periods, it's important to have a sanitary napkin or period panty which has rash free and leakage prevention capabilities.

Long-Term Consequences Beyond the Skin

Hygiene practices for adults, including the use of well-fitted absorbent products, have consequences that extend beyond comfort. Improper or prolonged use of adult diapers can create conditions for recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs).

Hygiene-related infections place a heavy burden on public health. In India, poor menstrual hygiene is linked to school absenteeism, reproductive tract infections, and delays in seeking care because of stigma. Outcomes are shaped by access to products, awareness, and their quality.

Hygiene Access as a Health Equity Issue

Clinical recommendations are only actionable where products and information reach people reliably. In rural and peri-urban India, access to affordable, functional hygiene products such as absorbent sanitary pads, quick dry & reliable baby / adult diapers, and effective skin-cleansing agents remains uneven. Affordability and quality often sit at opposite ends of the market.

When hygiene products fail in absorbency, breathability, or durability, the burden falls on the user's skin and health. A diaper that leaks prematurely does not reduce dermatitis risk; a sanitary pad which leaks fails mid-cycle, does not support menstrual hygiene management. Product performance, therefore, is inseparable from health outcomes.

Practice Over Knowledge

The evidence base for hygiene as preventive medicine is extensive and long-established. The gap that persists is between knowledge and consistent practice, sustained by habit formation, reliable access to appropriate products, and normalisation of conversations around intimate health.

Maintaining daily hygiene by using the right products and following regular routines decreases the risk of infections, protects the skin, and promotes overall long-term health.

By Vijay Chaudhary, Founder of Lakons. The Healthandme team was not involved in authoring this story

US tech giant Apple today announced that Tim Cook has been elevated to executive chairman of the company and will step down as CEO.

John Ternus, senior vice president of hardware engineering, will succeed Cook as chief executive officer, effective September 1, 2026.

“It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple,” Cook said in an official statement, praising Ternus as someone with “the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity.”

Apple’s Biggest Contribution In Health: Tim Cook

Cook has led Apple since 2011, after the passing of co-founder Steve Jobs. Under Cook, the company shifted from a device company to a consumer health platform company.

“If you zoom out way into the future, and you look back and ask what Apple’s biggest contribution was, it will be in the health area,” Cook said in an interview with WIRED, an American magazine, in 2024.

The company entered the wearables segment with the Apple Watch in 2015. From being a fashion statement, it gradually evolved into a health-focused product.

Under Cook’s leadership, Apple moved from wellness tracking to proactive medical monitoring, with the Apple Watch at its core.

With features ranging from ECG to blood oxygen monitoring and fall detection, it expanded Apple’s ecosystem beyond smartphones.

Cook focused on “democratizing” healthcare by empowering users to track metrics such as AFib, sleep apnea, hypertension, and blood oxygen levels.

Here's a look at various features of Apple devices under Tim Cook that focused on health, ranging from heart to vision to reproductive health.

Heart Health

With advanced features like hypertension notifications, irregular rhythm notifications, the ECG app, and AFib history, the Apple Watch provides users with an invaluable view of their cardiovascular health.

Apple Watch can detect patterns of hypertension that may increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, and kidney disease.

It works by using the optical heart sensor, which provides data to an algorithm that can detect potential hypertension by analysing how blood vessels respond to heartbeats over 30-day periods.

Key features include:

• AirPods Pro 3 come with heart rate sensing, helping users track heart rate and calories burned during workouts. Using LEDs that pulse invisible light 256 times per second, along with sensor fusion from accelerometers, users can get highly accurate data across up to 50 workout types in the Fitness app.

• Apple Watch can measure VO₂ max -- the maximum amount of oxygen the body can consume during exercise.
• If cardio fitness levels are low for age and sex, users receive a notification. Fitness can be improved by increasing the intensity and frequency of cardiovascular exercise.

Hearing Health

The Noise app on Apple Watch sends notifications when environmental noise levels may affect hearing health.

Apple’s AirPods Pro also provide loud sound reduction, lowering sound exposure in environments as loud as 110 dBA.

The Sleep and Activity Tracker

The device tracks sleep, which plays a crucial role in physical and mental health. Apple Watch can monitor sleep and provide a daily sleep score.

Apple Watch Activity Rings enables customizable goals that encourages consistent physical activity. It also provides a daily visual representation of movement through metrics such as:

• move (red, active calories),
• exercise (green, minutes of brisk activity),
• stand (blue, hours with at least one minute of movement).

The Apple Watch Workout app features enhanced training load tracking, custom workout builders for strength training, and new metrics for personalized fitness tracking.

Even without an Apple Watch, users can set a daily Move goal in the Fitness app on iPhone to stay motivated. It tracks steps, distance, flights climbed, and workouts from third-party apps to estimate active calories contributing to the Move goal.

Also read: India Introduces Healthy Lifestyle, Mental Wellness as Priority Areas at BRICS Meet

Period Tracking And Reproductive Health

The Cycle Tracking experience on iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPad allows users to log periods and record symptoms or cycle factors for a better understanding of their cycle. It helps with family planning by tracking temperature during sleep and estimating when ovulation likely occurred. Wrist temperature can also improve period predictions.

It also flags for deviations such as irregular, infrequent, or prolonged periods, or persistent spotting.

Further, in the Health app on iPhone or iPad, Cycle Tracking offers additional support during pregnancy, including gestational age tracking and health chart monitoring. It also reminds users to check in on mental health conditions during pregnancy and postpartum periods.

Eye Health

iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch include features designed to support eye health, especially myopia or nearsightedness in children.

The Screen Distance feature on iPhone and iPad uses the TrueDepth camera (also used for Face ID) to detect when a device is held closer than 30.48 cm (12 inches) for extended periods and encourages users to move it farther away.

Users can also store their vision prescription in the Health app. It can be securely saved on iPhone and iPad by taking a photo of the document or entering the details manually.