Is India's extreme heat impacting pregnancies?

With the blistering temperatures that most of India is suffering under, it should come as no surprise that May 2025 was the second-warmest month of May since records began. But what is of greater concern now, is how this heat is going to affect our future generations -- a new study has found that India recorded an average of six additional days of dangerously high temperatures for pregnant women every year over the last five years. What is this extreme heat doing the bodies of mothers to be? How does heat affect pregnancy outcomes? What will it mean for the near future, as India continues to experience heat waves?
Guest: Prof Jane Hirst Chair in Global Women's Health, The George Institute for Global Health, Imperial College London and Visiting Professor in Global Women's Health, University of Oxford
Host: Zubeda Hamid
Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian
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Time of India

12 hours ago

• Time of India

Nearly 600 in UK may die this week — a deadly heatwave warning from scientists

Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Hundreds of people in the UK may die from heat-related causes this weekend, researchers have warned, as a new real-time analysis estimates that high temperatures from Thursday to Sunday could claim as many as 570 at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Imperial College London published the findings on Saturday, using a model that combines mortality risk with weather forecasts to calculate potential deaths during the ongoing heatwave According to the study, there could have been 114 fatalities on Thursday and 152 on Friday. The toll is expected to rise over the weekend, with a projected 303 additional heat-related deaths . Saturday is forecast to be the deadliest day, with 266 deaths, nearly half of which could occur in London."Our study should be taken as a warning," said Malcolm Mistry, who took part in the study and teaches at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. "Exposure to temperatures in the high-20s or low-30s may not seem dangerous, but they can be fatal, particularly for people aged over 65, infants, pregnant people and those with pre-existing health conditions."This is the first real-time assessment of heat-related excess deaths in 2025 by these institutions. The study uses decades of UK data to model health risks in 34,753 neighbourhoods across England and Wales. The researchers estimate a peak of 266 excess deaths on Saturday alone, when the heat is expected to be most severe. London is forecast to see the highest toll, with 129 excess deaths on that analysis arrives amid growing concern over the impact of extreme heat on public health. A separate study published on Friday found that the current heatwave was made around 10 times more likely — and 2°C to 4°C hotter — due to climate European nations are also bracing for deadly conditions this Germany, the national weather service issued heat warnings for Sunday across much of the western and northern parts of the country, including the cities of Frankfurt, Cologne, Hamburg, and Berlin. The warnings are triggered when temperatures are predicted to reach levels that could endanger is facing similar threats. Meteo France warned of an early heatwave in parts of western France on Saturday, with temperatures forecast to rise to around 39°C. The eastern departments of Rhone and Isere are also affected. An orange-level heat alarm has been issued, which signals the need for 'very vigilant' behaviour in light of 'dangerous phenomena.'Tracking the true number of heat-related deaths is complex, researchers say. While high temperatures exacerbate a range of existing health conditions, few death certificates list heat as a direct contributing cause.'Many people who lose their lives in heatwaves rarely have heat listed as a contributing cause of death,' said Garyfallos Konstantinoudis, lecturer at Imperial College UK has been experiencing unusually intense and sustained heat this week, particularly for this time of year. Health authorities have issued repeated warnings about the risks to vulnerable warming has sharply raised the chances of early heatwaves. According to a separate study published Friday by researchers from Imperial College and the World Weather Attribution group, a heatwave like this would have occurred once every 50 years before the industrial era. Now, it is estimated to occur every five years due to climate change.

The Hindu

a day ago

• The Hindu

Is India's extreme heat impacting pregnancies?

With the blistering temperatures that most of India is suffering under, it should come as no surprise that May 2025 was the second-warmest month of May since records began. But what is of greater concern now, is how this heat is going to affect our future generations -- a new study has found that India recorded an average of six additional days of dangerously high temperatures for pregnant women every year over the last five years. What is this extreme heat doing the bodies of mothers to be? How does heat affect pregnancy outcomes? What will it mean for the near future, as India continues to experience heat waves? Guest: Prof Jane Hirst Chair in Global Women's Health, The George Institute for Global Health, Imperial College London and Visiting Professor in Global Women's Health, University of Oxford Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Listen to more In Focus podcasts:

The Hindu

5 days ago

• The Hindu

Study indicates incidence of rheumatoid arthritis increased 13 pc since 1990

Rheumatoid arthritis affected nearly 18 million people worldwide in 2021 -- an over 13 per cent rise in cases since 1990, a study has found. According to the study, more young people are being diagnosed with this disease, which became geographically widespread with time. Rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic autoimmune condition, occurs when the body's immune system mistakenly attacks its healthy tissues, especially those in joints, leading to inflammation, pain and stiffness. The study, published in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, found that population growth impacted the disease's burden in most countries, including India, Pakistan and Spain, while ageing impacted the most in Thailand, China and Poland. The regions high on the sociodemographic index were hit the hardest, while those low witnessed an increase, it said. "While previous Global Burden of Disease (GBD) studies have provided important insights, they have largely focused on high-level descriptions and visualisations at global and national scales, failing to capture local disparities or the dynamic interactions between socioeconomic development and disease trends," said principal investigator Queran Lin from Imperial College London. Coordinated by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, GBD studies analyse data from over 200 countries and territories to map trends in disease prevalence, severity and deaths attributable to 371 diseases between 1990 and 2021. "In 2021, RA (rheumatoid arthritis) affected 17.9 million people globally, with a 13.2 per cent increase in incidence rate from 1990-2021, trending younger and broader," the authors wrote. They were "able to generate the most granular disease burden estimates to date, offering a new framework for guiding precision public health across diverse populations", Lin said. The study also projected that the regions with a low-middle sociodemographic index could see an increase in burden by 2040 due to ageing and population growth, while the burden in regions high on the index could decrease. Controlling smoking could curb deaths due to the chronic disease in high-smoking regions (such as China) by 16.8 per cent and the burden on the population by over 20 per cent, the authors said. Japan showed a decline in burden of rheumatoid arthritis (by over 22 per cent) despite having a high sociodemographic index, which the authors said might reflect nationwide early diagnosis programs, widespread use of biologic therapies and a diet rich in anti-inflammatory components. The authors called for localised policies and resource allocation, particularly in the regions having low-middle sociodemographic index. "Demographic changes and uneven health infrastructure exacerbated RA burdens and disparities worldwide, with high SDI areas hardest hit while low SDI regions saw increases. Trend analysis empowered targeted policies such as localised smoking control to address these inequities," the authors wrote.