{"id":2235,"date":"2026-10-08T10:22:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T10:22:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/health.myinstants39.com\/celebrating-new-frontiers-questioning-old-barriers\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T10:22:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T10:22:22","slug":"celebrating-new-frontiers-questioning-old-barriers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/?p=2235","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating new frontiers, questioning old barriers\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

On the Nobel Prize, healthcare inequities, mental health, new research, and more<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

(In the weekly\u00a0Health Matters<\/b>\u00a0newsletter,\u00a0Zubeda Hamid <\/b>writes about getting to good health, and staying there.\u00a0You can\u00a0subscribe\u00a0here\u00a0to get the newsletter in your inbox.)<\/i><\/p>\n

This week began with a bang: the Nobel Prizes are being announced, and first in the line-up was the prize for medicine or physiology. Additionally this week, we\u2019ve looked at access to, and affordability of healthcare in India, mental health and research developments.<\/p>\n

The Nobel Prize<\/h4>\n

Nobel week is always exciting: guessing games are played as to who will win the prize; there\u2019s surprise (or not) once the winner is announced and the work behind the prize is delved into and decoded. This week was no different. The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, announced on Monday (October 5, 2026) went jointly to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegeman and Georg Nagel \u201cfor their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.\u201d What is optogenetics you ask? Ramya Kannan<\/b>explains that it is a method that makes it possible to show how nerve cells shape memories, feelings and behaviour in the brain. Sounds exciting, doesn\u2019t it, especially as it concerns an organ that has long remained mysterious. What was also interesting was that it upended what was touted to be a favourite for this year\u2019s prize: the GLP-1 class of drugs. Do also watch our video on the prize.<\/p>\n

Access and affordability in India<\/h4>\n

For all of the progress the country has made in medicine, for all of the breakthroughs, scientific advances and use of AI, it\u2019s disheartening — but also important — to remember that access to quality healthcare is still not something everyone can take for granted. A video that circulated widely on social media a few days ago showed a Dalit woman who was allegedly denied admission to a government hospital in Bhadohi district, Uttar Pradesh, while in labour and was forced to deliver outside the hospital in public. The victim\u2019s family alleged untouchability, reportsMayank Kumar<\/b>. Around the same time, an ill child died in his mother\u2019s arms in Meghalaya\u2019s West Khasi Hills district during his parents\u2019 three-hour trek to reach the nearest hospital. The village headman said the boy\u2019s parents tried to arrange for a vehicle after his health deteriorated at night on October 1. No driver wanted to come to the village because of the poor road conditions.<\/p>\n

Stories like these force us to stop and ask ourselves what our definition of \u2018progress\u2019 really is, and if we\u2019ve progressed at all, if we can\u2019t ensure basic access to care for all our citizens.<\/p>\n

Even when care is available though, the question of affordability remains — a question we delved into last week, amid the Supreme Court\u2019s scrutiny of drug prices that Aaratrika Bhaumik<\/b> is tracking. This week, Bindu Shajan Perappadan<\/b>reports that the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan and the Working Group on Access to Medicines and Treatment have called for regulation of charges levied by private hospitals and ceilings on trade margins for medicines, medical devices and medical consumables. C. Maya,<\/b> meanwhile asks, if the Keralam government\u2019s promise to make private health care more affordable is possible, given that it is still in a legal battle with the private sector over the Kerala Clinical Establishments Act, 2018.<\/p>\n

Spotlighting mental health<\/h4>\n

Ahead of World Mental Health Day, which falls on October 10, Afshan Yasmeen <\/b>reported on a study from NIMHANS that revealed temperamental traits and adverse experiences during childhood may together offer clues to vulnerability to major psychiatric disorders. Such studies could help determine whether particular temperamental characteristics precede the onset of psychiatric illness or are partly consequences of illness and its treatment.<\/p>\n

Another story this week looks at a subject that doesn\u2019t often make it to mainstream news headlines: Dr. Sachin Barbde<\/b>, Dr. Christianez Ratna Kiruba<\/b> and Dr. Debasmita Saren<\/b> write on rethinking suicide prevention in Adivasi communities, calling for better representation of Adivasi communities across the spectrum, the fostering of community spaces that offer familiar language, relationships, cultural understanding and for policies to do things with Adivasis, not for them.<\/p>\n

Chennai-based organisation, SCARF, meanwhile, unveiled a \u2018Wall of Hope\u2019, an initiative that encourages young people to express, share, and reflect upon their personal reasons for living, through brief messages of hope, and thereby, foster conversations around mental health and encourage help-seeking.<\/p>\n

Research developments<\/h4>\n

The Nobel Prize has made it to all the headlines this week, but there\u2019s been some other interesting research too! Dr. C. Aravinda<\/b> and Dr. Veera Rajagopal<\/b> look at an experiment by Stanford University researchers called \u2018xenocortication\u2019 that lets human brain tissue develop inside a living mouse, offering a novel way to study the developing human brain and, potentially, how disease develops.<\/p>\n

Another study, this published in The Lancet Global Health <\/i>journal, found that India is among the top countries with 90% of the world\u2019s chewing tobacco-related health burden — highlighting the urgent need for action.<\/p>\n

A recent report on E.coli contamination in Kerala in flood-affected areas along the Meenachil river detected the bacteria in 67% of the samples — what this means, is explained in this story.<\/p>\n

Bo Wang<\/b>, in The Conversation<\/i>, explains why turning artificial intelligence research into real-world tools isn\u2019t always straightforward: systems that perform well in controlled lab settings often fall short when deployed in homes, in hospitals or on city streets.<\/p>\n

And finally, shining a light on the people behind all of the research work, Dinesh C. Sharma<\/b> profiles Gursaran Prasad Talwar, scientist, institution builder, lifelong researcher who is now 100.<\/p>\n

And some more:<\/b><\/p>\n

Dr. Subramanian Swaminathan<\/b> tells you what you need to know about seasonal infections<\/p>\n

Athira Elssa Johnson<\/b> talks to doctors about brain fog and when it should be evaluated, and also writes on the social media trend \u2018ferritin face\u2019<\/p>\n

Geetha Srimathi<\/b>, in our all you need to know series writes on Swyer syndrome<\/p>\n

Why do India\u2019s official rabies numbers differ from estimates? Find out<\/p>\n

P.S. Niranjana<\/b> writes on vitiligo and speaks to people affected by the condition<\/p>\n

Gayatri Saberwal<\/b>, Rakesh Mishra <\/b>and Alok Bhattacharya <\/b>say India\u2019s next challenge is to show the world how to make rare-disease drugs accessible; with a streamlined regulatory pathway, appropriate financial incentives, and government procurement<\/p>\n

Nobel laureate Barry Marshall<\/b> stresses that eradicating H. pylori can prevent gastric cancer<\/p>\n

And finally, here\u2019s our Health Wrap video for the week, do give it a watch!<\/p>\n

(There is much more, do head to our<\/i>health page<\/i>and subscribe to the health newsletter<\/i>here<\/i>)<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the Nobel Prize, healthcare inequities, mental health, new research, and more (In the weekly\u00a0Health Matters\u00a0newsletter,\u00a0Zubeda Hamid writes about getting to good health, and staying there.\u00a0You can\u00a0subscribe\u00a0here\u00a0to get the newsletter in your inbox.) This week began with a bang: the… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthcare.hibisports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}