The use of hallucinogens, such as ketamine and psychedelics can raise the risk of death by 2.6-fold, according to a study on Monday.

Researchers from The Ottawa Hospital in Canada noted that the use of hallucinogens including psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca, and MDMA (ecstasy), has rapidly increased since the mid-2010s.

Increasing use may partially also reflect growing medical and societal interest in pairing psychedelics with psychotherapy for mental health and substance use disorders, said the team.

However, although psychedelic-assisted therapy trials have generally been safe, there is little data about whether hallucinogens might increase the risk of adverse events, such as thoughts of suicide and death, when used outside of carefully controlled clinical trial settings or in populations currently excluded from trials.

India’s Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) market is expected to expand to $22 billion by 2030, according to a report on Monday.

The report by Praxis Global Alliance, a management consulting firm, stated that the APIs are growing at a CAGR of 8.3 pc in the country.

APIs are biologically active components in drugs that provide pharmacological activity or direct effects in disease treatment. For instance, in common medications like Crocin, paracetamol functions as the API, directly responsible for the drug's pain-relieving properties.

The report noted that “India is also the third-largest global producer of APIs, with an 8 per cent market share and over 500 different APIs manufactured”.

“India contributes 57 per cent of the APIs on the WHO's prequalified list. The market is expected to expand from $18 billion in 2024 to $22 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 8.3 per cent,” said Madhur Singhal, Managing Partner, Pharma and Lifesciences at Praxis Global Alliance.

A team of US researchers has decoded that genetic and lifestyle factors may determine why some people with Down syndrome suffer dementia.

Studies reveal that people with Down syndrome have over a 90 per cent lifetime risk of developing dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease as they age. However, the link behind the conditions was not known yet. Alzheimer's is the most common cause of dementia.

People with Down syndrome are born with an extra copy of chromosome 21, which affect how their brain and body develop. Alzheimer's is a progressive brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills

Research from the universities of Pittsburgh and California found an unexpected Alzheimer's disease progression in a woman with Down syndrome.

The Down syndrome patient participated in the study for 10 long years, and donated her brain for research after her death.

Birth defects claim the lives of about 300 children under five years of age, every day in the South-East Asia region, said the World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday, ahead of World Birth Defects Day.

World Birth Defects Day is marked every year on March 3. It aims to raise awareness about prevention programmes and improve the quality of services and care received by people with congenital anomalies, disorders, or conditions.

“During the past two decades, the contribution of birth defects to the cause of death among under-5 children has increased from 3.9 per cent to 11.5 per cent in our region,” said Saima Wazed, Regional Director for WHO South-East Asia, in a statement.

South Africa's National Department of Health appealed for vigilance as three new cases of monkeypox, also known as mpox, were confirmed in the country.

Foster Mohale, spokesperson for the health department, said all three cases were detected in Gauteng Province. "These are the first positive cases of mpox recorded in South Africa this year, after the last case was recorded in September 2024," Mohale noted on Friday.

The new cases include a 30-year-old male, who has been diagnosed with the Clade I mpox virus currently circulating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. The patient has recently traveled to Uganda.

Two other patients, a 27-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman, were diagnosed after the outbreak monitoring team conducted contact tracing.

As the district authorities take steps to contain the bird flu outbreak in the Chikkaballapur district, located close to Bengaluru, the State Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department has issued an order to cull 350 chickens in a poultry farm.

The order issued on Friday was for a farm located in Varadahalli, Chikkaballapur. The authorities in the district are on high alert following the detection of the H5N1 virus in chickens in Varadahalli. The district administration, led by Deputy Commissioner P.N. Ravindra, has conducted an emergency meeting and issued an order prohibiting the movement of chickens from the village.

Previous infections with seasonal H1N1 flu may boost immunity and reduce the severity of H5N1 bird flu, according to a study.

The study, published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, may help explain why most reported human cases of H5N1 bird flu in the US have not resulted in lethal outcomes.

Researchers from the universities of Pittsburgh and Emory conducted a study to decode the potential of viruses to spread between people.

Gastric bacteria, which leaks around the stomach lining, plays a significant role in the onset of stomach cancer -- which has limited treatment options and poor survival rates, according to a study on Wednesday.

The study led by researchers from the University of Birmingham identified a crucial interaction between Helicobacter pylori and non-H. pylori bacteria in the pre-cancerous stage of gastric cancer.

The results, published in the journal Helicobacter, could pave the way for a more effective treatment of pre-cancer.

“We are excited about the potential of this observation to open a new avenue of research in the prevention of stomach cancer. It is possible that a simple antibiotic treatment could be administered to treat these bacteria. However, there is a lot more work to do,” said Dr Amanda Rossiter-Pearson from the varsity.

Rossiter-Pearson emphaised the need to “determine the identity of these bacteria and understand how the presence of these bacteria in the precancerous condition impacts the patient’s risk of developing stomach cancer”.

Gastric cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Infection with Helicobacter pylori bacteria, whilst asymptomatic for most people, has long been identified as the primary risk factor for stomach cancer.

However, why only 1 per cent of infections progress to gastric cancer is not fully understood. To probe, the team used the latest imaging technology to pinpoint the location of bacteria. They saw that while H. pylori exclusively colonised gastric glands, non-H. pylori bacteria leaked through the stomach lining in the pre-cancerous condition, gastric intestinal metaplasia.

A team of international researchers has developed a new blood test that could predict the risk of about 30 age-related conditions like lung cancer and heart disease that can appear decades later.

The blood test measures the age of different organs of the human body to predict the risk. The team including from the UK, France, and the US said the quick and easy blood test identifies whether a specific organ is ageing faster than expected -- an advance that may pave the way for personalised prevention and treatment methods.

The findings based on 20 years of follow-up data revealed that a heart that aged more rapidly predicted a significantly increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, while accelerated lung ageing predisposed people to respiratory infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and lung cancer.

The highest risk of dementia was found in those whose immune systems aged faster than usual. Similarly, people with accelerated kidney ageing were more likely to later develop vascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and liver diseases, while biological ageing of nearly all organs predicted an increased risk of kidney disease.

Higher levels of physical activity may not only prevent the risk of cancers but also boost survival rates in people who have undergone treatment.

Researchers from the Louisiana State University in the US focussed on long-term survival rates in colon cancer survivors. Individuals with colon cancer face higher rates of premature mortality than people in the general population.

To assess whether exercise might reduce this disparity, the team analysed data from two posttreatment trials in patients with stage 3 colon cancer. A total of 2,875 patients self-reported physical activity after cancer surgery and chemotherapy.