Weight loss is usually considered a good thing, unexpected and extreme weight loss can be a sign of something in your body going very wrong. There could be some underlying issues that are causing your body to pull weight and nutrition from your muscles and body fat to keep you going. As you grow old, your limbs grow weaker, and same for your muscles, so you do lose some weight as you age, but losing a lot of it too quickly could be a sign of something much worse, Dementia. A recent study published in JAMA Network Open 2025 Cardiometabolic Trajectories Preceding Dementia in Community-Dwelling Older Individuals, has identified potential early indicators of dementia, including significant weight loss and specific digestive changes, appearing years before noticeable cognitive decline.

The study showed that people who later got dementia had their Body Mass Index, or BMI, go down faster than those who stayed healthy. BMI is a way to see if someone's weight is healthy for their height. This drop in BMI started happening many years before they were told they had dementia, sometimes as early as 11 years ago. Also, these people often started with a lower BMI to begin with. So, even though everyone's weight might change a little as they get older, the people who developed dementia had a much bigger and faster weight loss.

What Are Some Other Indicators Of Dementia?

Along with their BMI, the size of their waist also changed. People who ended up with dementia had smaller waist sizes, and this difference was noticeable about 10 years before they were diagnosed. This means that their bodies were changing in ways that showed up long before they or their doctors noticed any problems. So, not only was there weight loss, but also a loss of abdominal fat. This measurement is important because fat around the waist can be related to other health issues.

The study also found changes in their blood. Specifically, the "good" cholesterol, called HDL, went up in people who developed dementia. This increase happened about five years before they were diagnosed. It's tricky because HDL is usually seen as a good thing for your heart. But in this case, it seems like it might be a sign of changes happening in the brain. Scientists are still trying to understand why this happens.

Weight Loss Doesn’t Cause Dementia, Dementia Causes Weight Loss

When we see that people with dementia lose weight, it's easy to think that the weight loss is what caused dementia. But experts think it's the other way around. They call this "reverse causation." This means that the brain changes that cause dementia also cause people to lose weight. The brain changes can affect things like appetite, how the body uses food, and how people go about their daily lives. For example, people might forget to eat, have trouble making meals, or move around less.

While the study revealed a lot about different indicators of dementia and bodily changes, there are many limitations to the study. Everyone loses some weight as they get older. So, it's hard to know when weight loss is just a normal part of aging and when it's a sign of dementia. The study found that people with dementia lost weight faster, but it's still tricky to tell the difference in everyday life. Doctors need to look at other things, like memory tests, to figure out if someone's weight loss is a cause for concern.

If someone is losing weight without trying, and they're also having problems with their memory or thinking, it's important to talk to a doctor. It's not just about the weight loss; it's about the whole picture.

Endometriosis is a chronic disease affecting about 1 in 10 women worldwide. Diagnosis and treatment remain challenging, particularly for women with severe pain and other complications.

Now, US researchers have developed a targeted nanotherapy that showed promising results against endometriosis in early testing.

Scientists at Washington State University found that the treatment reduced endometriosis lesions, symptoms and pain sensitivity after a single dose in mice.

The findings were published in Advanced Healthcare Materials. Researchers hope to eventually test the treatment in humans.

How Does The Drug Work?

Also read: Endometriosis Can Take Years To Diagnose But This AI Tool Can Identify Its Signs In 18 Milliseconds

The drug, niclosamide, was previously used to treat intestinal tapeworm infections in humans and is still used in animals.

Earlier research found that niclosamide could reduce endometriosis lesions and inflammation. However, it is not suitable for long-term use, limiting its potential as a treatment for a chronic condition.

To overcome this, researchers developed a nanotherapy that delivers niclosamide directly to cells associated with endometriosis.

“We found the disease-specific immune cell, and then we had a drug, but we couldn’t target the cell with the drug alone,” said Kanako Hayashi, professor at WSU’s School of Molecular Biosciences.

“So we used this nanocarrier that delivers the drug specifically to the disease site,” Hayashi said.

Single Dose Reduced Lesions In Mice

The team used a nanosized molecule called a dendrimer to bind with niclosamide and deliver it in a more soluble form.

In mice, a single injection reduced the size and number of lesions and lowered pain sensitivity.

“Although we still need to clear multiple phases, this study is telling us the efficacy is strong, and this nanocarrier is stable, so far, for two weeks—and we think we can go longer,” Hayashi said.

If the treatment remains stable for longer periods, researchers believe it could potentially be given less frequently. Hayashi said a monthly injection could be possible in the future, but this would depend on further testing.

READ: Endometriosis Taught Me To Always Listen To My Body, Says Model Padma Lakshmi

Can It Be Used In Humans?

Not yet. The treatment has only been tested in mice and must undergo further safety and efficacy testing before human trials.

Researchers also do not yet know whether it would ultimately be given as an injection or IV infusion.

What Is Endometriosis?

Endometriosis affects an estimated 190 million women worldwide. It occurs when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus.

It can cause severe pelvic pain, painful periods, pain during sex and infertility. Symptoms are sometimes dismissed as a “bad period,” contributing to delays in diagnosis.

There is currently no cure, although treatments can help manage symptoms.

How Is Endometriosis Treated?

Treatment depends on symptoms, disease severity and fertility goals.

Hormonal medicines can help control pain and disease activity but may cause side effects and can affect fertility while being used.

Painkillers, including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, may help manage discomfort.

Laparoscopic surgery can remove lesions and endometriotic cysts and may help restore pelvic anatomy. It can also improve fertility in some women, although the disease can recur.

Lifestyle measures such as regular exercise, stress management and dietary changes may also support symptom management.

Lung development of the fetus depends on the physical and genetic health of the parents.

At birth, breathing begins with air from the environment, containing oxygen and other gases, and is influenced by known and unknown forces of nature. The air then passes through well-developed nostrils, which regulate the air temperature and prevent foreign bodies from entering the body and help protect against diseases.

Breath travels through the nasal passages, sinuses, pharynx (throat), larynx (voice box), trachea (breathing tubes), bronchi, small airways, air sacs, interstitial membrane, into thin-walled blood vessels that transport oxygen and collect gases and other substances to be expelled from the body.

The diaphragm, the muscle that separates the lungs from the abdomen, is the most powerful breathing apparatus.

The lungs in the early stages of life undergo dramatic changes from newborn→ infancy→ childhood→ puberty→ teenage→ adults→ middle age→ seniors. Factors influencing lung health risks keep changing with age, depending on genetics, environment & external factors.

• Genetics or abnormalities – disorders at birth, transmitted from parents. Stress, environment, nutritional deficits, and accidents play an important role in lung and airway development. Also, anatomical abnormalities of the airways since birth, whether corrected or correctable or left alone.

• Allergy—genetic or acquired is lifelong unless well managed

• Chronic health conditions – Asthma can occur during childhood, pregnancy, post-pregnancy, or later in life and is generally manageable. Diabetes can develop during childhood, in young adulthood, or later in life, but it can be managed effectively. Hypertension, including pulmonary hypertension, can occur at any age and may be caused by blood clots, underlying diseases, primary conditions, or genetic factors.

• Environmental factors and unhealthy habits – smoking, pollution, gases, drugs, near-drowning. Recreational drugs, or side effects of medications used for diseases of the body, can have a telling effect on the lungs and airways.

• Nutrition – inadequate nutrition of mother and child can cause damage till old age

• Occupational lung disease – at any stage – workplace, smoking, birds, pets, pollution, construction activity, dusty atmospheres and travel, which may cause difficulty in breathing till later in life, leading to chronic obstructive lung disease that may cause morbidity.

• Infections – Can occur during childhood or throughout life, affecting both healthy individuals and those with reduced immune function, which may be due to co-existing diseases, medications that suppress the immune system to prevent rejection of transplanted organs, congenital immune deficiencies, or acquired immune deficiencies resulting from medications, external factors, or underlying diseases.

• Prophylactic medication, vaccines, and early treatment of airway diseases help in later life.

• Autoimmune diseases–arthritis, thyroid, etc.- where the body's defense mechanism has become rogue and fights itself, can develop from childhood till late in life.

• Accidents – happen at any age, damaging the breathing apparatus and requiring emergency treatment

• Cancer in any part of the body, including radiation, may affect the lungs at any age

• Body’s failure of in-built Immunity (innate) or acquired immunity mechanism; sunlight is nature’s gift to mankind; it improves lung resistance at all ages

• Snoring as an indicator for suspected obstructive sleep apnea

For Better Lung Health

• Exercise – yoga, sports, walking, physical and breathing exercises help to improve the performance of the respiratory tract throughout life

• Education – helps in understanding the causes, prevention, and timely treatment. It helps in averting damage to the airways in the future.

• Availability of health care facilities in urban & rural areas – can make a difference in the development, prevention, and treatment of respiratory disorders.

• Breastfeeding of the baby is important as it helps in the development and growth of the lungs, immunity, and fighting against damaging forces in nature, in the form of bacteria, viruses, fungi, prions, and a horde of known and unknown mechanisms which harm airways. Cough and sneeze reflexes begin to develop, which are powerful forces used to throw out unwanted particles and organisms from the airways.

The lungs and airways perform non-respiratory functions of protecting the body against harmful insults, both from within and external threats, and it also protects against insults received from other organs of the body. The lungs have a powerful defense mechanism protecting the body and also have hormonal, physical, and immunological defense mechanisms.

Every year on October 2, World No Alcohol Day urges people to pause and think about alcohol's place in everyday life. Here's where the day came from, and what current research actually shows about drinking.

World No Alcohol Day: Origins

It began in 2008, when India's then Union Health Minister, Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss, proposed a global alcohol-free day at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, according to National Day Calendar. The proposal drew support from 11 Southeast Asian countries.

The World Health Organization never formally adopted October 2 as an official global observance, according to a summary on Checkiday. There are, in fact, three dates tied to alcohol awareness worldwide: October 2 and October 3, observed by many groups as World Alcohol-Free Day or World Temperance Day, and November 15.

In India, October 2 is also a nationwide dry day, with no alcohol sales permitted, and is marked separately as National Anti-Drug Addiction Day.

Also Read: Does Experimental Obesity Drug Petrelintide Cause Fewer GI Side Effects Than Ozempic? Lancet Study Shows Promise

What Science Says About Alcohol Now

The science has shifted since 2008. In January 2023, the World Health Organization stated plainly that no level of alcohol consumption is safe for health, publishing the position in The Lancet Public Health. The WHO said current evidence cannot identify any threshold below which alcohol's cancer-causing effects switch off.

Alcohol is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen, the same risk category as tobacco and asbestos, and is linked to at least seven types of cancer, including the most common cancers in men and women, bowel and breast cancer, according to the WHO.

Globally, alcohol was responsible for an estimated 741,300 new cancer cases and contributed to nearly 400,000 cancer deaths in a single year, as per Lancet-based estimates cited by the Union for International Cancer Control.

Previous research has showed some benefits of wine, but the majority scientific consensus now is that there is no safe levels of alcohol. The World Health Organization says health risks begin with the first drop of alcohol, meaning no level of consumption is completely safe or risk-free.

The toll beyond cancer

Cancer isn't the only risk. Alcohol use is tied to roughly 2.5 million deaths worldwide each year, including 320,000 among people aged 15 to 29, according to the WHO. Beyond individual health, alcohol-related harm also means more road accidents, violence, and strain on healthcare systems.

A May 2026 study linked alcohol to 62 disorders, ranging from heart and digestive diseases to mental and neurological conditions and cancers.

The study, published in the journal Addiction, showed that the fully alcohol-attributable conditions are mainly grouped under non-communicable diseases and injuries.

These include:

• Endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases
• Mental and behavioral disorders
• Diseases of the nervous system
• Diseases of the circulatory system, such as alcoholic cardiomyopathy
• Digestive diseases
• Alcoholic liver disease and cirrhosis.

The data also included psychotic disorders, gastritis, ulcers, pancreatitis, fatty liver disease, pregnancy- and perinatal-related conditions such as fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, as well as external causes and injuries, including alcohol poisoning.

Excessive alcohol consumption is one of the leading preventable causes of illness and death in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Research shows that alcohol accounts for approximately half of all liver-related deaths, while alcohol-associated cirrhosis has become the leading cause of liver transplants.