Heart and a stethoscope with heartbeat (pulse) symbol in Light blue background
| Photo Credit: bernie_photo

Women’s heart disease risks, and their need to start taking preventive medications should be evaluated when they are in their 30s rather than well after menopause as is now the practice, said researchers who published a study on Saturday, August 31, 2024.

Presenting the findings at the European Society of Cardiology annual meeting in London, they said the study showed, for the first time, that simple blood tests make it possible to estimate a woman’s risk of cardiovascular disease over the next three decades.

“This is good for patients first and foremost, but it is also important information for (manufacturers of) cholesterol lowering drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, and lipoprotein(a)lowering drugs – the implications for therapy are broad,” said study leader Paul Ridker of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Current guidelines “suggest to physicians that women should generally not be considered for preventive therapies until their 60s and 70s. These new data… clearly demonstrate that our guidelines need to change,” Dr. Ridker said. “We must move beyond discussions of 5 or 10 year risk.”

The 27,939 participants in the long-term Women’s Health Initiative study had blood tests between 1992 and 1995 for low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C or “bad cholesterol”), which are already a part of routine care.

They also had tests for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) – a marker of blood vessel inflammation – and lipoprotein(a), a genetically determined type of fat.

Compared to risks in women with the lowest levels of each marker, risks for major cardiovascular events like heart attacks or strokes over the next 30 years were 36% higher in women with the highest levels of LDL-C, 70% higher in women with the highest levels of hsCRP, and 33% higher in those with the highest levels of lipoprotein(a).

Women in whom all three markers were in the highest range were 2.6 times more likely to have a major cardiovascular event and 3.7 times more likely to have a stroke over the next three decades, according to a report of the study in The New England Journal of Medicine published to coincide with the presentation at the meeting.

“The three biomarkers are fully independent of each other and tell us about different biologic issues each individual woman faces,” Dr. Ridker said.

“The therapies we might use in response to an elevation in each biomarker are markedly different, and physicians can now specifically target the individual person’s biologic problem.”

While drugs that lower LDL-C and hsCRP are widely available – including statins and certain pills for high blood pressure and heart failure – drugs that reduce lipoprotein(a) levels are still in development by companies, including Novartis (NOVN.S ), Amgen , Eli Lilly and London-based Silence Therapeutics.

In some cases, lifestyle changes such as exercising and quitting smoking can be helpful.

Most of the women in the study were white Americans, but the findings would likely “have even greater impact among Black and Hispanic women for whom there is even a higher prevalence of undetected and untreated inflammation,” Dr. Ridker said.

“This is a global problem,” he added. “We need universal screening for hsCRP … and for lipoprotein(a), just as we already have universal screening for cholesterol.”

New Delhi:

Researchers have developed a novel computer algorithm that can predict various diseases like diabetes or stroke, just by analysing the colour of the human tongue with 98 per cent accuracy.

The imaging system developed by Middle Technical University (MTU) and the University of South Australia (UniSA) in Australia can diagnose conditions such as diabetes, stroke, anaemia, asthma, liver and gallbladder issues, Covid-19, and other vascular and gastrointestinal diseases.

“The colour, shape, and thickness of the tongue can reveal a litany of health conditions,” said Ali Al-Naji, adjunct Associate Professor at MTU and UniSA.

“Typically, people with diabetes have a yellow tongue; cancer patients a purple tongue with a thick greasy coating; and acute stroke patients present with an unusually shaped red tongue,” he added.

The breakthrough was achieved through a series of experiments using 5,260 images to train machine-learning algorithms to detect tongue colour.

Researchers received 60 tongue images from two teaching hospitals in the Middle East, representing patients with diverse health conditions. The AI model matched tongue colour with the correct disease in nearly all cases.

The paper published in Technologies describes how the system analyses tongue colour to provide real-time diagnoses, demonstrating that AI can advance medical practices significantly.

Al-Naji explained that AI is replicating a 2,000-year-old technique from traditional Chinese medicine, where the tongue’s colour, shape, and thickness are used to diagnose health issues.

For example, people with diabetes typically have a yellow tongue, while cancer patients show a purple tongue with a thick greasy coating. Stroke patients often present with an unusually shaped red tongue. A white tongue can indicate anaemia, severe Covid-19 cases are associated with a deep red tongue, and an indigo or violet tongue suggests vascular or gastrointestinal problems or asthma.

The study used cameras placed 20 centimetres from a patient to capture tongue colour, and the imaging system predicted health conditions in real time.

Co-author UniSA Professor Javaan Chahl noted that this technology could eventually be adapted for use with smartphones, making disease screening more accessible.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Delhi’s meteorological and political climates seem to be in perfect sync this year. After the infernal heat and dust, the city is holding its breath. It’s like being transfixed by the cobra’s eyes. Everything is at a standstill. A pregnant pause. While the new parliament is in session, nothing significant has been achieved yet, either by the ruling party or the opposition. 

No, Rahul Gandhi becoming the Leader of the Opposition does not count as a significant event. This was along the predicted lines. Similarly, a drop in the mercury is not worth any mention. After twelve months of dealing with “the twelve hottest months in the history of the planet”, a promise of rain feels nothing more than trolling. 

Delhi Lives On

Delhi is not even complaining anymore. There is a new emergency heatstroke unit now at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital where patients are being given ice baths to save their lives. Delhi has recorded at least 14 heatwave days, the highest in at least 14 years. There’s something deeply satisfying about such numerically synchronised stats, no matter what horrors they imply. Two hundred and seventy-five people have been recorded as fatal victims of the heatwave since mid-May in Delhi. The actual numbers are certainly much higher. Delhi is cranking up the air-conditioning. 

Also Read | 20 Dead In Delhi Heatwave, Centre Orders Hospitals To Prioritise Treatment

Even the chief minister’s continued incarceration is not making people’s – his voters and supporters’ – blood boil (the Aam Aadmi Party office at Rouse Avenue has more police around it than supporters). Delhi has a habit of slinking into complacency when ‘terrible’ becomes just a notch better and gets categorised as ‘bad’. Yes, it’s a hot day, but it’s not as bad as yesterday. Our collective memory of heat and dust is rather short. Or, it is too long. Going back centuries and millennia. 

“A Desert Like That Of Karbala”

“The city has become a desert, and now that the wells are gone and water is something rare and precious, it will be a desert like that of Karbala.” Battling a severe water crisis in summer, Delhi is thus described by one of the best-known Urdu poets of all time. Only, the year is 1859 and the poet is Mirza Ghalib. Such is the curse and charisma of Delhi, the more it changes, the more it stays the same. 

Also Read | Heatwave: Death Toll Climbs To 143 Across India

Delhi’s water crisis has worsened over the years. And so has its air. Unfortunately, nobody pays attention to these issues until there is a perfect time for it. In other words, whenever a convenient scapegoat is found. Air pollution, therefore, will only be talked about in the winter, just in time for Diwali and the harvest of rice. The moment the Haryana and Punjab farmers start to clear out their farms, Delhi complains of being choked. Facts and Air Quality Index (AQI) monitors be damned that throw up horrifying numbers all year long. The AQI reading for today, a pleasant day, is 300. Very pleasant indeed! Water is scarce today but in no time the city will be inundated, thanks to a swelling Yamuna and clogged or absent drains. 

Dysfunctional But Functioning

None of this is new. Delhi goes on. It has taken it upon itself to show Mumbai its place. What do you mean by the spirit of Mumbai? Even Delhi is willing to stay charred or flooded for days and still be ‘functional’. At least as functional as wealthy club-goers insisting on getting behind the wheel after a gallon of alcohol in their bodies.

What Delhi does not do is value accountability. And here is the catch. Once you start seeking accountability, you have to be accountable, too. Power outages, for example, can not be only owing to the faulty gear of the power companies or soaring demand etc. Surely, electricity theft and wastage at individual and institutional levels have a role to play in it. Similarly, air pollution may have something to do with the countless cars on the roads. It’s a big stereotype in the West that Delhi folk – the privileged lot that can afford foreign travel – are extremely poor walkers. Yes, despite boasting of one of the best public transport infrastructures in the country, Delhi relies on its private motor vehicle ownership. 

The Many Delhis

Delhi is second to none when it comes to flouting norms and laws in its quest to build and build some more. The city is perpetually under construction. According to a recent survey done by Ahmedabad’s Indian Institute of Public Health, more than 60% of construction workers suffer from heat stress during summer. Despite the Labour Ministry’s 2023 directives to construction companies for a change in working hours and humane work conditions, nothing has changed on the ground, thanks to the absence of strict enforcement. As long as the privileged in Delhi get their draft of cool air from their car ACs, they don’t care who drops dead next to their boiling vehicle. 

Delhi builds, Delhi sizzles, Delhi dies. Often, it’s not the same Delhi. 

(Nishtha Gautam is a Delhi-based author and academic.)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author