Latest news with #SriRamachandraInstituteofHigherEducationandResearch
The Hindu
26-05-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
SRIHER spine surgery team wins research award in Seoul
The spine surgery team from Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (SRIHER) has won the Best International Research Award at the International Congress of the Korean Spine Society held recently in Seoul. A press release said the award was presented to Sudhir Ganesan, Senior Consultant, Spine Surgery, for groundbreaking research on the Wnt signaling pathway (It helps control how cells grow, heal, and develop) during spinal cord injuries. The research was conducted in collaboration with Lakshmi Revathi Perumalsamy, associate professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences, SRIHER. It was funded with a ₹25 lakh grant from AO Spine Foundation, Dr. Sudhir added.
Indian Express
24-05-2025
- Health
- Indian Express
Everything Tom Cruise consumes during the day to stay fit at 62
The highly anticipated Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the eighth and final instalment of the Mission: Impossible franchise, is set to hit cinemas this year. As Tom Cruise, lead actor and Hollywood heartthrob, attends the Cannes Film Festival for the screening of his upcoming release, we take a look at the diet secrets that help him stay in shape at 62. According to Men's Health Magazine, Cruise caps his daily food consumption at 1200 calories. He prefers 'steamed white fish and vegetables without oil, butter, or sauce' and chooses to have 15 snacks a day instead of three main meals to accommodate his busy lifestyle better. When dining out, he always opts for alcohol-free drinks. He also swaps crisps and chocolate for fruit, which helps him 'reduce any anxiety'. In fact, Cruise's diet does not include high-sugar snacks, processed foods, or carbohydrates. His personal chef cooks his food at 'low temperatures'. A meal plan that focuses on antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables for their anti-inflammatory benefits, Cruise's diet includes salmon, dark chocolate, raw oats, blueberries, ginger, beets, broccoli, tomatoes, spinach, olive oil, nuts, and vitamins and mineral supplements. C V Aishwarya, a clinical nutritionist and lecturer at Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, said that an anti-inflammatory diet like this focuses on whole, nutrient-dense foods rich in antioxidants, healthy fats, and fiber, while minimising processed foods, sugars, and unhealthy fats. This approach may help reduce chronic inflammation and associated diseases. 'Antioxidants also help defend the body's cells from free radicals, which can cause oxidative stress and increase our risk of developing illnesses,' she added. She mentioned that cooking food at low temperatures helps preserve its nutritional content, which supports health. It also keeps the food higher in flavour and moisture. Mitushi Ajmera, a nutritionist and senior master fitness trainer, told that going zero-carb can trigger several physiological and metabolic shifts in the body. Glycogen depletion: The body first uses the available glycogen, the stored form of sugar in muscles and the liver. Since with every 1 g of glucose, the body holds 3g of water, and the body loses water weight, which could be 1-3kg. Ketosis begins: Once glycogen stores get depleted, the body starts producing ketones as an alternative energy source, where fat is burned for fuel. Energy and mood fluctuations: This may make one feel sluggish, foggy, or irritable, accompanied by headaches, fatigue, dizziness, muscle cramps, and poor sleep due to the electrolyte imbalances and the adjustment phase. Appetite suppression: Ketones often have an appetite-suppressing effect. 'Some people naturally eat less after a few days,' said Ajmera. Insulin and blood sugar stabilisation: With no carbs, blood sugar levels may stabilise, and insulin levels drop. This could be an advantage for people with insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes. Digestive changes: Lack of fibre from carb sources may lead to constipation and altered gut microbiota. Many carb-rich foods provide fibre, vitamins, and minerals. 'A strict zero-carb diet may lead to constipation, electrolyte imbalances, and gut health issues,' she emphasised. While a low-carb diet can aid weight loss and blood sugar control, eliminating carbs is not necessary or sustainable. She added that a balanced approach with fibre-rich, complex carbs is generally healthier in the long run. DISCLAIMER: This article is based on information from the public domain and/or the experts we spoke to. Always consult your health practitioner before starting any routine.
NDTV
23-05-2025
- Health
- NDTV
India To Lead Global Research On Environment And Health
New Delhi: India stands at the cusp of becoming a global leader in exposomics research, with the potential to reshape its understanding and prevent the disease, said Dr Kalpana Balakrishnan, Dean of Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research. Ms Balakrishnan, who was part of a recent forum on exposomics organised by the Johns Hopkins University in Washington DC, told PTI that India's unique blend of traditional and modern health risks makes it "a natural laboratory" for exposome science. The term "exposome" was coined by Dr Christopher Wild in 2005. It refers to the totality of environmental exposures that individuals experience throughout their lives, from conception to death. Unlike a genome, which is inherited and fixed, the exposome is dynamic, ever-shifting and deeply intertwined with health outcomes. Noting that genes and genetic susceptibility alone cannot explain why people develop a chronic disease, Ms Balakrishnan said, "Someone may not have the genetic markers for heart disease or diabetes, but still end up with them because of multiple environmental exposures experienced over a life course. That's the exposome." While the Human Genome Project advanced genetic science within a decade, diseases affecting the cardiovascular system, endocrine disorders and mental health issues remain poorly understood through genetics alone, she explained, emphasising the need for cutting-edge tools that can capture exposures from chemical, physical, biological and psychosocial hazards and their interactions with lifestyles or living conditions. When asked about what kind of tools and technologies are needed for exposome mapping, Ms Balakrishnan told PTI that High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (HRMS) that can simultaneously screen thousands of chemical compounds in air, water, soil and food is one of the key technologies. "You don't just test for what you expect - A, B, and C. You do untargeted analysis to discover D, E, F and beyond. Otherwise, you stay blind to the unknowns," she said. For biological responses, Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and a suite of omics platforms, including metabolomics, proteomics, and genomics, are vital. "These help us understand how internal systems react to exposures," Ms Balakrishnan said, noting that samples from blood, urine and other tissues provide critical biological signatures. However, exposomics isn't confined to the laboratory. It now includes satellite-generated data for physical exposures like air pollution, urban heat islands, vegetation cover, and land-use changes. "We can map environmental factors at high spatial resolution for entire populations," she said, adding that this is especially critical for a country like India, where environmental risks vary drastically by region and socioeconomic status. Highlighting the complexity of exposomic data, Ms Balakrishnan, who is also the director at World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Occupational Environmental Health, mentioned that mapping it requires deep learning and AI-powered pattern recognition beyond basic statistical methods. "These computational tools are crucial. We need them to make sense of massive, layered datasets across environmental samples, biological responses, and population demographics," Ms Balakrishnan told PTI. She further referred to the successful models in the North American and European exposome consortia, where patterns between pollution, green spaces, and genetic variants are predicting risks for diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular conditions. "Imagine if we could replicate and scale that here in India," she said. India's opportunity lies in its landscape, which includes traditional public health challenges like poor sanitation and lack of clean water. These challenges exist alongside modern hazards like ultra-processed food, air pollution and psychosocial stress. "We're seeing exposure overload from both ends," Ms Balakrishnan said. "That's why we need a holistic, integrative framework in the numerous ongoing cohorts in the country, and exposomics can give us that," she added. Stressing that India cannot rely on siloed scientific approaches, she further stated that it is not just the job of medical scientists. "We need engineers, economists, social scientists, and urban planners in the room - together with policymakers from the start," she emphasised. Adding an international perspective, Dr Rima Habre, associate professor of environmental health and spatial sciences at the University of Southern California and co-director of the NIH-funded NEXUS Center for Exposome Research Coordination, said India holds immense potential for global collaborations in exposomics. Speaking to PTI, Habre said, "I connected with Dr Balakrishnan around exposomics at a recent visit to Ahmedabad, India, where we were both invited speakers at an ICMR-NIOH conference. "I presented our vision in the NEXUS Center, which I co-lead with Dr. Gary Miller and Dr. Chirag Patel, to link US-based and international researchers and infrastructure for a truly global exposome initiative." She added that India's diversity of environmental and social stressors, shaped by unique regional policies and cultural practices, offers unparalleled insight into the totality of health-relevant exposures. "Dr Balakrishnan's work in establishing large, population-based cohorts in India is foundational for exposomics," Habre said, calling for a globally connected but locally governed framework to reduce the environmental burden of disease. Poornima Prabhakaran, Director of the Centre for Health Analytics Research and Trends (CHART), Ashoka University, echoed the sentiments. India's longitudinal research infrastructure provides a fertile ground to pioneer large-scale exposomics studies tailored to developing country contexts, she told PTI. "As a global effort to scale exposomics gathers momentum, we must account for a multitude of diverse exposures across geographies and populations spanning biomarkers, environmental risk factors and 'omics'," she said. This is in light of the recent Exposome Moonshot Forum hosted in Washington DC where there is already an effort across EU (EIRENE) and now US (NEXUS) and IREN to initiate this effort globally, Prabhakaran said.
Time of India
23-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
'Health isn't shaped by genes alone - it's in the air and all around us'
New Delhi: India stands at the cusp of becoming a global leader in exposomics research, with the potential to reshape its understanding and prevent the disease, said Dr Kalpana Balakrishnan , Dean of Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research. Balakrishnan , who was part of a recent forum on exposomics organised by the Johns Hopkins University in Washington DC, told PTI that India's unique blend of traditional and modern health risks makes it "a natural laboratory" for exposome science. The term "exposome" was coined by Dr Christopher Wild in 2005. It refers to the totality of environmental exposures that individuals experience throughout their lives, from conception to death. Unlike a genome, which is inherited and fixed, the exposome is dynamic, ever-shifting and deeply intertwined with health outcomes. Noting that genes and genetic susceptibility alone cannot explain why people develop a chronic disease, Balakrishnan said, "Someone may not have the genetic markers for heart disease or diabetes, but still end up with them because of multiple environmental exposures experienced over a life course. That's the exposome." While the Human Genome Project advanced genetic science within a decade, diseases affecting the cardiovascular system, endocrine disorders and mental health issues remain poorly understood through genetics alone, she explained, emphasising the need for cutting-edge tools that can capture exposures from chemical, physical, biological and psychosocial hazards and their interactions with lifestyles or living conditions. When asked about what kind of tools and technologies are needed for exposome mapping, Balakrishnan told PTI that High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (HRMS) that can simultaneously screen thousands of chemical compounds in air, water, soil and food is one of the key technologies. "You don't just test for what you expect - A, B, and C. You do untargeted analysis to discover D, E, F and beyond. Otherwise, you stay blind to the unknowns," she said. For biological responses, Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and a suite of omics platforms, including metabolomics, proteomics, and genomics, are vital. "These help us understand how internal systems react to exposures," Balakrishnan said, noting that samples from blood, urine and other tissues provide critical biological signatures. However, exposomics isn't confined to the laboratory. It now includes satellite-generated data for physical exposures like air pollution, urban heat islands, vegetation cover, and land-use changes. "We can map environmental factors at high spatial resolution for entire populations," she said, adding that this is especially critical for a country like India, where environmental risks vary drastically by region and socioeconomic status. Highlighting the complexity of exposomic data, Balakrishnan, who is also the director at World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Occupational Environmental Health, mentioned that mapping it requires deep learning and AI-powered pattern recognition beyond basic statistical methods. "These computational tools are crucial. We need them to make sense of massive, layered datasets across environmental samples, biological responses, and population demographics," Balakrishnan told PTI. She further referred to the successful models in the North American and European exposome consortia, where patterns between pollution, green spaces, and genetic variants are predicting risks for diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular conditions. "Imagine if we could replicate and scale that here in India," she said. India's opportunity lies in its landscape, which includes traditional public health challenges like poor sanitation and lack of clean water. These challenges exist alongside modern hazards like ultra-processed food, air pollution and psychosocial stress. "We're seeing exposure overload from both ends," Balakrishnan said. "That's why we need a holistic, integrative framework in the numerous ongoing cohorts in the country, and exposomics can give us that," she added. Stressing that India cannot rely on siloed scientific approaches, she further stated that it is not just the job of medical scientists. "We need engineers, economists, social scientists, and urban planners in the room - together with policymakers from the start," she emphasised. Adding an international perspective, Dr Rima Habre , associate professor of environmental health and spatial sciences at the University of Southern California and co-director of the NIH-funded NEXUS Center for Exposome Research Coordination, said India holds immense potential for global collaborations in exposomics. Speaking to PTI, Habre said, "I connected with Dr Balakrishnan around exposomics at a recent visit to Ahmedabad, India, where we were both invited speakers at an ICMR-NIOH conference. "I presented our vision in the NEXUS Center, which I co-lead with Dr. Gary Miller and Dr. Chirag Patel , to link US-based and international researchers and infrastructure for a truly global exposome initiative." She added that India's diversity of environmental and social stressors, shaped by unique regional policies and cultural practices, offers unparalleled insight into the totality of health-relevant exposures. "Dr Balakrishnan's work in establishing large, population-based cohorts in India is foundational for exposomics," Habre said, calling for a globally connected but locally governed framework to reduce the environmental burden of disease. Poornima Prabhakaran, Director of the Centre for Health Analytics Research and Trends (CHART), echoed the sentiments. India's longitudinal research infrastructure provides a fertile ground to pioneer large-scale exposomics studies tailored to developing country contexts, she told PTI. "As a global effort to scale exposomics gathers momentum, we must account for a multitude of diverse exposures across geographies and populations spanning biomarkers, environmental risk factors and 'omics'," she said. This is in light of the recent Exposome Moonshot Forum hosted in Washington DC where there is already an effort across EU (EIRENE) and now US (NEXUS) and IREN to initiate this effort globally, Prabhakaran said.
Indian Express
18-05-2025
- Health
- Indian Express
Try doing this expert-approved gut test after meals to find out if you're eating right
'Your body sends clear signals within 30 minutes of eating—are you paying attention?' asks dietitian Akanksha Pandey in an Instagram reel, and it got us wondering — are we eating right and how is that manifesting in our body? Gut health isn't rocket science – eat good food and your digestive system stays on track. However, this post-meal gut test that we came across online might help us find the track faster and stay in lane better. According to Pandey, the after food gut test has 5 key steps: 1. If you are feeling sleepy after 30 minutes of eating, it means that your blood sugar levels are crashing. 2. If you end up burping a lot after meals, it means that you have low stomach acid. 3. If you are feeling bloated 30 minutes after a meal, it means that you have poor digestive enzymes 4. If you are feeling tightness in your chest after eating, it means you have food intolerance 5. If you have to rush to the bathroom after you have eaten food, it means that you have some sort of gut dysbiosis. In conversation with CV Aishwarya, a clinical nutritionist and lecturer at Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai, we learnt the efficacy and accuracy of the gut test. 'Feeling sleepy 30 minutes after eating can not necessarily a blood sugar crash. A crash is more likely if insulin is over secreted or if there is underlying insulin sensitivity,' said Aishwarya. According to her, frequent burping is more often due to swallowed air or gastroesophageal reflux disease. It should be confirmed via tests. 'Bloating 30 minutes after eating could be because of low bile production, along with pancreatic enzyme insufficiency,' said the nutritionist. Aishwarya said that food intolerance can cause indirect symptoms like bloating, inflammation or reflux but tightness in chest isn't a hallmark. The best approach is to consult a healthcare expert and get your gut microbiome checked. 'Rushing to the bathroom right after eating is likely dude to IBS, even SIBO. Dysbiosis can be assessed via still microbiome testing or breath tests,' she said. According to Dr Vikas Jindal, consultant, dept of gastroenterology, CK Birla Hospital, Delhi, gut dysbiosis refers to an imbalance or disruption in the composition and function of the gut microbiota, the collection of microorganisms living in the digestive tract. Dysbiosis can trigger inflammation in the gut and other body parts, contributing to conditions like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), or even autoimmune diseases. The key to tackling this problem lies in taking a balanced diet rich in fibre, fruits, vegetables, and fermented foods that promotes bacterial diversity. Consuming natural probiotic-rich foods (yogurt, kefir) and prebiotic fibre (garlic, onions, bananas) can help maintain a balanced microbiota instead of taking excessive supplements without guidance.
