Latest news with #Alzheimer's
India Today
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- India Today
‘Saiyaara' and a nation in the mood for love
(NOTE: This article was originally published in the India Today issue dated August 4, 2025)No reels were shot. No interviews given. No city tours or visits to malls and colleges. Relying on its ballad-heavy soundtrack and the track record of director Mohit Suri (who has done most of the pre-release heavy lifting), a romantic drama featuring two newcomers—Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda—has sprung out of nowhere to create a mini tremor at the box office. Opening day collections? Rs 21.5 crore. Doubts about the figure being inflated or fudged were abound, but by the weekend of July 18, nobody could deny that Saiyaara, a new film about a young couple whose love is challenged when one of them develops early-onset Alzheimer's, is a smash hit. Rs 83 crore in three days! Records have already piled up: biggest opening weekend for a film featuring rookies, biggest opening for a romantic film in Indian cinema... With week one set to easily cross the Rs 150 crore mark, the film is destined to enter the Rs 300 crore club. That these numbers come at a time when the love story was deemed a deadbeat genre on the big screen has made this accomplishment all the more how did it happen? The key, as has been the case with many of Suri's previous romantic outings (Murder 2, Aashiqui 2, Ek Villain), may be the soundtrack, which not only complements his emotional narratives but at times also supercedes it. Saiyaara's album features fresh vocal talent like Faheem Abdullah, who has sung and co-composed the title track, which has busted the charts and has the youth singing Suri, 'If I have had a good musical record, it's because my education has been with a company that prioritised and paid attention to music and lyrics.' He credits his uncles Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt, whose banner Vishesh Films gave him his big break, and adds, 'Music and romance go hand in hand. Tell me one love story that did well but didn't have good music. I like to have my ears to the ground, to stay in touch with what people are hearing and connecting to.' Earworms he's anchored like 'Phir Mohabbat', 'Tum Hi Ho' and 'Galliyan' still dominating the airwaves are proof that he knows what he's doing. MUSIC MEETS FILMJust a track record of successful romantic releases, however, didn't mean that Suri had an easy time selling the movie to producers. He conceived the film at a time when the genre was struggling to put bums on seats. The industry belief has been that ever since COVID-19, the audience has been content watching love stories from the comfort of their homes on OTT platforms and it is the adrenaline-heavy, larger-than-life action spectacles that are thriving on the big felt the void. It helped that he had just happened to see The Romantics, the Netflix documentary series tracking the origin and rise of Yash Raj Films (YRF). 'I was roaming around with the script and a lot of people were genuinely concerned about me and said that no one is going to make a film like this,' he says. Loosely inspired by Korean film A Moment to Remember, Suri wanted to craft a musical romance around a creative partnership—a hotheaded singer and a heartbroken writer who inspires him and he male lead, played by Panday] has bare raw talent who doesn't know what to do with it; [the female lead, Padda] has the words and knows how to channelise the best from him. They are soul mates but can't be together,' he adds. This dynamic is different from the one in his other blockbuster romance, Aashiqui 2, which was more supportive than did Suri know that Yash Raj Films, otherwise busy building up their Spy Universe, was on the lookout for a love story. To invest Rs 50 crore on a film with two twentysomething newcomers was a gamble they were willing to take. Casting director Shanoo Sharma, who has brought to Bollywood talents like Anushka Sharma, Ranveer Singh and Bhumi Pednekar, found the perfect pair in Panday (cousin of Ananya Panday) and Padda, whose earlier credit is a little-seen web series Big Girls Don't Cry. YRF was confident it had an ace up its sleeves with the genre it was once synonymous with—romance.'It meant a lot to me that mine was the film with which YRF wanted to come back to the genre,' says Suri. 'My education in romantic films was going to theatres and watching Yash [Chopra] ji and Adi [Aditya] sir's films. We all grew up falling in love with the kind of films they did.'advertisementInterestingly, the young leads were spared the burden of a promotional blitz. 'We wanted to take away those expectations,' says Suri. 'I think they have excelled. They have given it their all. They went all in, their hunger is there. They are more skilled and prepared than [we were when] we started out. They want their work to talk.'RETURN OF ROMANCEAnd talk it has, with 27-year-old Panday, particularly, being celebrated as the next big thing. Much chatter has been around how the film could portend the return of romance in Hindi cinema. After all, not since Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai, 25 years back, has a love story with debutants been embraced with such the crystal ball remains hazy. Kaho Naa... came at the tail-end of a decade of love stories, in which Shah Rukh Khan led the wave with his trademark outstretched arms. In recent times, the only other Hindi romantic film to have connected so feverishly with audiences was Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Kabir Singh (2019), with its wild-child of a hero leaving some audiences unsettled by his rage and Yet the industry appears hopeful. 'Thankfully, Saiyaara has made heads turn and made everyone realise that it's the big intrinsic idea that really drives the box office.... I hope it makes the industry realise that what we need is not one genre over and over again. We need to give audiences a variety,' says Akkshay Rathie, director at Aashirwad Theatres and a film exhibitor. Annukampa Harsh, a fortysomething writer who saw the film with her mother, says that Saiyaara is proof that 'the old school works.... We don't need 'modern' love stories. The only thing new about love today is how we seek it.'advertisementWhether any of the upcoming romantic films in the next few months (see Love is in the Air) will resonate the way Saiyaara has with the audiences remains to be seen. But what is clear right now is that Panday and Padda are two of the industry's brightest young stars basking in the success of a debut that could only have been written in the to India Today Magazine- Ends
Forbes
3 hours ago
- Health
- Forbes
How AI Is Transforming Healthcare In 2025
Ashish Sukhadeve, Founder and CEO of Analytics Insight, providing organizations with strategic insights on disruptive technologies. In terms of its transformative effect, AI is doing for healthcare what electricity did for the industry. According to Fortune Business Insights, the global AI healthcare market was valued at $29.01 billion in 2024, and it's projected to grow to $504.17 billion by 2032. This represents a massive CAGR of 44%. For healthcare leaders, the time to act is now; AI is rapidly advancing areas such as illness prevention, diagnostics and drug discovery, and it has the potential to significantly reduce administrative burdens. Here are just some of the areas to follow when it comes to AI in the sector: Preventing Illness I think one of AI's most valuable contributions is its ability to prevent illness. There are many wearables, AI health apps and the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) available now. These consumer applications enable individuals to take charge of their own health. They allow users to monitor everything from heart rates to sleep cycles, turning passive patients into proactive participants. Doctors also benefit. AI helps them understand a patient's daily habits, risks and medical history. This improves their ability to offer personalized care. I see prevention, powered by data, as becoming the new normal. Diagnosis AI also excels in medical imaging and diagnostics. At Massachusetts General Hospital and MIT, AI detected lung nodules with 94% accuracy, outperforming radiologists, who achieved 65%. Similar results have been found for breast cancer detection. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, AI in diagnostics may reduce treatment costs by 50% and improve outcomes by 40%. AI is not just reducing medical errors; it is reducing medical anxiety. I believe with AI improving both accuracy and outcomes, healthcare leaders must treat diagnostics not as a back-office upgrade, but as a frontline opportunity for transformation. Drug Discovery Bringing a drug to market can take over 10 years and cost $172 million on average. Only 13.8% of compounds make it to approval. AI can help reduce this timeline dramatically. Systems like IBM Watson can process vast amounts of medical journals and case studies. DeepMind uses neural networks to solve complex health problems with learning algorithms. AstraZeneca's AI, trained on data from 500,000 people, can now predict diseases like Alzheimer's before symptoms appear. These tools can be used not only to improve timelines but also to save countless lives. Caring For The Aging Population As populations age, the demand for elder care rises. AI-powered robots are easing this burden, even when it comes to things like laundry. They are increasingly used to assist in physical therapy, provide companionship and reduce hospital visits. These machines can now hold conversations that stimulate mental engagement in older adults. The lesson is clear: Embracing AI not only addresses labor shortages but also opens new paths to compassionate, scalable elder care. Administration Support AI is improving what patients don't see, the administration. Microsoft's Dragon Copilot can create real-time notes during clinical consultations. Germany's Elea AI reports that it can cut testing and diagnosis from "weeks to hours." These and many other tools are giving doctors more time focusing on patient care. These tools are also helping save time when it comes to clinical decision making, and as evidenced by the Alzheimer's prediction example, AI increasingly supports early warnings. It can now identify high-risk patients using data patterns, including genetic and lifestyle factors. Tools like ChatRWD are replacing and outperforming generic AI models. Conclusion AI is not replacing doctors but empowering them. It now impacts every layer of healthcare, from diagnosis to prevention, from robots to research. Patients can be better informed. Doctors are better equipped. Systems are more efficient. In 2025, I believe the most important medical tool is not a scalpel; it's data, and AI is the surgeon. The future of healthcare is not waiting on some distant horizon; it's already here.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
New Alzheimer's Clinical Guidelines Move Towards Replacing More Invasive Tools with Blood Tests; Pressing Need for Further Guidance Remains
Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation calls for guidelines for FDA-approved blood tests to continue momentum toward precision medicine NEW YORK, July 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Expanding the use of Alzheimer's blood tests is crucial to usher in a new era of precision medicine and bring Alzheimer's disease into mainstream care. The new clinical practice guidelines for blood biomarkers announced today by the Alzheimer's Association represent a first step in this effort, but further direction is needed to address newly FDA-approved tests as the diagnostic landscape continues to evolve. "Replacing more invasive PET scans and CSF tests, when appropriate, with blood tests will be a major step toward the future we envision, where we can detect and diagnose Alzheimer's sooner, allowing for earlier intervention and even prevention," said Dr. Howard Fillit, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of the ADDF. "These guidelines signal progress, but with the science moving quickly, it's essential that clinical recommendations keep pace – especially with Fujirebio's blood test approved by the FDA and more to follow." The new guidelines are limited to specialty care, apply only to patients with cognitive impairment, and exclude several blood tests, including Fujirebio's. Still, they reflect critical momentum, recommending blood biomarkers with ≥90% sensitivity and specificity to replace more invasive and costly confirmatory tests like PET imaging or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) testing during Alzheimer's diagnosis. As of now, only C2N's PrecivityAD2 test meets these requirements. Tests with ≥90% sensitivity and ≥75% specificity are recommended to be used for triage, with negative results ruling out Alzheimer's, while positive results should be confirmed with PET or CSF. While amyloid blood tests are a critical first step, the ADDF is focused on advancing next-generation biomarkers through its Diagnostics Accelerator (DxA) – a $100 million global initiative supported by the late Leonard A. Lauder, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and other leading philanthropists – that reflect the broader biology of aging and align with today's robust drug pipeline where over 70% of drugs target non-amyloid pathways. "The future of Alzheimer's care lies in precision medicine. To get there, we need a full spectrum of validated biomarkers — and robust clinical guidelines to help providers use them effectively," added Dr. Fillit. "In the future, digital biomarkers and blood tests will be used side-by-side to detect the disease early, track its progression, and guide treatment based on each patient's unique biology." About The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF)Founded in 1998 by Leonard A. and Ronald S. Lauder, the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation is dedicated to rapidly accelerating the discovery of drugs to prevent, treat and cure Alzheimer's disease. The ADDF is the only public charity solely focused on funding the development of drugs for Alzheimer's, employing a venture philanthropy model to support research in academia and the biotech industry. The ADDF's leadership and contributions to the field have played a pivotal role in bringing the first Alzheimer's PET scan (Amyvid®) and blood test (PrecivityAD®) to market, as well as fueling the current robust and diverse drug pipeline. Through the generosity of its donors, the ADDF has awarded more than $370 million to fund 765 Alzheimer's drug discovery programs, biomarker programs and clinical trials in 21 countries. To learn more, please visit: About the Diagnostics Accelerator (DxA)The Diagnostics Accelerator, created in July 2018, is a $100 million global research initiative from partners including ADDF Co-Founder Leonard A. Lauder, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott, the Dolby family, the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, among others, to develop novel biomarkers for the early detection of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. This research initiative is dedicated to accelerating the development of affordable and accessible biomarkers to diagnose Alzheimer's disease and related dementias and advance the clinical development of more targeted treatments. Through translational research awards and access to consulting support from industry experts, this program will challenge, assist and fund the research community in both academia and industry to develop novel peripheral and digital biomarkers. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
New Indian Express
4 hours ago
- Health
- New Indian Express
To stay sharper while aging, get active, challenge your brain, and eat healthy
WASHINGTON: It's official: Older Americans worried about cognitive decline can stay sharper for longer by exercising both their bodies and their brains and eating healthier. That's according to initial results released Monday from a rigorous US study of lifestyle changes in seniors at risk of developing dementia. People following a combination of healthier habits slowed typical age-related cognitive decline — achieving scores on brain tests as if they were a year or two younger, researchers reported in JAMA and at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference. It's not too late to get started -- study participants were in their 60s and 70s -- and it doesn't require becoming a pickleball champ or swearing off ice cream. 'It was the first time I felt like I was doing something proactive to protect my brain,' said Phyllis Jones, 66, of Aurora, Illinois, who joined the study after caring for her mother with dementia and struggling with her own health problems. It's too soon to know if stalling age-related decline also could reduce the risk of later Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia. But Jones and other study participants underwent brain scans and blood tests that researchers now are analyzing for clues – such as whether people also saw a reduction in Alzheimer's-related protein buildup. 'We're all on a cognitive aging clock and anything we can do to slow that clock down, to me, that is a significant benefit,' said Laura Baker of Wake Forest University School of Medicine, who led the study.
See - Sada Elbalad
6 hours ago
- Health
- See - Sada Elbalad
Saudi Arabia Approves First Alzheimer's Treatment
Israa Farhan Saudi Arabia has approved its first-ever treatment for Alzheimer's disease, marking a major step forward in the kingdom's efforts to expand cutting-edge healthcare. The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) announced on Tuesday the registration of the drug Leqembi (Lecanemab), a pioneering biologic therapy administered via intravenous infusion every two weeks. The medication is designed for patients in the early stages of Alzheimer's, including those with mild cognitive impairment or early dementia. It specifically targets individuals who carry no more than one copy of the ApoE4 gene variant, which is associated with increased Alzheimer's risk. According to the SFDA, Leqembi belongs to a new class of innovative biologic drugs developed using monoclonal antibody technology. The treatment works by targeting beta-amyloid proteins that build up in the brain, helping to slow the formation of plaques known to be linked to cognitive decline in Alzheimer's patients. The approval followed a thorough evaluation of the drug's efficacy, safety, and quality. Clinical trials have shown promising results, indicating that the treatment can slow disease progression compared to a placebo, based on standard clinical measures used to assess Alzheimer's treatments. Common side effects reported include headaches, infusion-related symptoms, and changes detectable by MRI scans known as Amyloid-Related Imaging Abnormalities (ARIA), which may involve brain swelling or microbleeds. These effects are associated with the drug's mechanism and are closely monitored during treatment. The SFDA stressed the importance of regular monitoring throughout the treatment period, especially to track potential side effects. It also highlighted the need for genetic screening before starting the therapy to reduce the risk of adverse reactions. As part of the approval conditions, the pharmaceutical company is required to submit ongoing safety and efficacy reports and implement a robust risk management plan to ensure safe and effective use of the drug. read more Gold prices rise, 21 Karat at EGP 3685 NATO's Role in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict US Expresses 'Strong Opposition' to New Turkish Military Operation in Syria Shoukry Meets Director-General of FAO Lavrov: confrontation bet. nuclear powers must be avoided News Iran Summons French Ambassador over Foreign Minister Remarks News Aboul Gheit Condemns Israeli Escalation in West Bank News Greek PM: Athens Plays Key Role in Improving Energy Security in Region News One Person Injured in Explosion at Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid News Israeli-Linked Hadassah Clinic in Moscow Treats Wounded Iranian IRGC Fighters Arts & Culture "Jurassic World Rebirth" Gets Streaming Date News China Launches Largest Ever Aircraft Carrier News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia Videos & Features Tragedy Overshadows MC Alger Championship Celebration: One Fan Dead, 11 Injured After Stadium Fall Business Egyptian Pound Undervalued by 30%, Says Goldman Sachs Lifestyle Get to Know 2025 Eid Al Adha Prayer Times in Egypt Arts & Culture South Korean Actress Kang Seo-ha Dies at 31 after Cancer Battle Arts & Culture Lebanese Media: Fayrouz Collapses after Death of Ziad Rahbani Sports Get to Know 2025 WWE Evolution Results
