Coffee boosts healthy aging odds for women: 30-year study

Study of 47,513 women links higher caffeine intake, especially from coffee, to better odds of healthy aging. Listen to article A recent study from the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) explored the relationship between caffeine consumption in midlife and the likelihood of healthy aging (HA) in women during older adulthood. The study, involving 47,513 women with data collected since…

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Weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro may lower oral contraceptive effectiveness., UK’s MHRA warns

Alert follows 40 reports of pregnancy in women taking these weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro Ozempic. – Reuters/file Listen to article The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has issued an alert urging women using weight-loss medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro to use effective contraception after receiving multiple reports of…

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Unseen. Misunderstood. Suicidal

PUBLISHED July 06, 2025 KARACHI: On paper, M* is living the life. She has a job she likes as a biomedical scientist and research fellow in women’s health. She has found her purpose: working to improve the lives of women with chronic health conditions through her FemTech start-up. So why does she want to kill…

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No country for a woman alone

By Yusra Salim/Fouzia Nasir Ahmad | PUBLISHED July 20, 2025 KARACHI: “It was in the early 2000s that my daughter decided to move to the US where her father lived, to finish her high school,” recounts Fareeha Mirza*, a teacher in her 50s, her temples graying, her eyes soft brown. ‘Life in Karachi was getting…

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From crisis to control: Balochistan’s polio breakthrough

By MOHAMMAD ZAFAR BALOCH | PUBLISHED July 27, 2025 QUETTA: Balochistan is witnessing a remarkable turnaround in its battle against poliovirus, with 2025 marking a period of steady progress and renewed hope. Once grappling with some of the country’s highest poliovirus transmission rates, the province now shows a significant decline in environmental surveillance positivity and—most…

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organ donation still a distant dream

PUBLISHED July 27, 2025 LAHORE/KARACHI/PESHAWAR: It is often said that the end of one thing is just the beginning of another. For one family bidding farewell to a deceased child and multiple others praying for the survival of an ailing loved one, organ donation can be the delicate thread tying together the distant trajectories of…

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The missed diagnosis

PUBLISHED August 03, 2025 KARACHI: In a country where patients often arrive at hospitals only when their condition turns critical, where public health infrastructure remains chronically underfunded, and where even routine illnesses can become life-threatening due to delays, the cracks in Pakistan’s healthcare system are no secret. But while treatment gaps and medicine shortages dominate…

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No space to nurse

PUBLISHED August 03, 2025 PESHAWAR/ LAHORE/ KARACHI: There was once a time when motherhood was stereotypically associated with a life of stagnation. The new mother’s life would revolve around caring for her child, with no room for personal or professional growth. In these times, breastfeeding, despite its challenges and constraints, came naturally to women since…

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When the body turns on itself

PUBLISHED August 10, 2025 When 28-year-old Sana began to lose clumps of hair and to wake up with stiff, painful joints in her right hand, she told herself it was nothing but stress. Six months later, a rash across her cheeks flared and she developed breathlessness. Multiple doctors offered inhalers, creams, or reassurance that it…

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Antibiotic resistance: a plague of our own making

Muhammad Sufian, 8, admitted to Benazir Children Hospital Mardan (BCHM) with a high-grade fever, has taken different antibiotics for almost 24 days. “Before admission to BCHM,” shares Sufian’s father Aziz Ur Rehman. “My son was treated by local medical practitioners in clinics situated in Lundkhawar area of Mardan district, and then by doctors at nearby…

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