Zubeda Hamid

2 weeks ago | thehindu.com | Ramya Kannan |Zubeda Hamid |Saumya Kalia

(In the weekly Health Matters newsletter, Ramya Kannan writes about getting to good health, and staying there. You can subscribe here to get the newsletter in your inbox.)It truly seems to be the age of innovation that we are living in, not in the conventional sense of the term, but innovation at a pace that we have never seen before. It seems as if the development of the COVID vaccine in record time has been like a magic wand that’s opened up a Pandora’s box of possibilities.

2 weeks ago | thehindu.com | Zubeda Hamid

If, while gazing at a bright white wall or the clear blue sky, you’ve seen tiny, squiggly black shapes dance in your line of vision, you’re not alone. Eye floaters, medically known as myodesopsias, are fairly common, especially in older adults. While in most cases, this is a benign condition, a sudden increase in eye floaters could indicate something serious, and requires a visit to an eye specialist. What are eye floaters?

2 weeks ago | thehindu.com | Zubeda Hamid

A shriek rents the air on a hot, April evening at the Kalaignar Centenary Park on Cathedral Road. This is followed by squeals of pleasure as a young woman glides high up on a zipline around the premises. On the ground, other park visitors ooh and aah, excited children try and convince their parents to let them go for a ride, and the parents themselves are busy bracing for a short adventure, worried about leaving their children on the ground.

3 weeks ago | thehindu.com | Zubeda Hamid

All of us have experienced butterflies in the stomach just ahead of an important exam, nervousness as we’re headed for a job interview, or perhaps clammy palms just after we have risked our lives crossing a road in our country. Some amount of anxiety is normal, and even healthy -- it may help alert us to a dangerous situation and focus our attention. An anxiety disorder however, goes beyond this.

3 weeks ago | thehindu.com | Zubeda Hamid

Even as India grapples with its estimated 101 million cases of Type 2 diabetes, a new type of diabetes has recently hit the headlines – Type 5. At the International Diabetes Federation’s meeting held recently, an announcement was made: a working group is to be formed to develop criteria and guidelines for Type 5 diabetes. Estimates indicate that this form of diabetes affects 25 million people across the world, primarily in Asia and Africa.