Ever considered sperm donation or to conceive through this process? If yes, then this news could concern you.While it is true that sperm health and the person who is donating matters, however, sometimes it can go unchecked. The consequence could be life threatening. In another news, a man whose sperm was used to conceive at least 67 children is found to be carrying a rare cancer causing mutation. Of the children, 10 of them were diagnosed with cancer. This has raised concerns about the lack of internationally agreed limits on the use of donor sperm.

How Was This Discovered?

The Guardian reports that two of the children's families reach out to their respective fertility clinics after their kids were diagnosed with cancer. This is when the sperm was linked to a rare genetic mutation. This case was also presented by Dr Edwige Kasper, a French biologist at the European Society of Human Genetics conference in Milan.

The European Sperm Bank confirmed that the rare variant which Kasper's lab concluded was likely to be Li-Fraumeni syndrome. This was also found in the supplied sperm. The syndrome is an inherited predisposition to cancer, and it has been found in more than two children.

What Is Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS)?

It is a cancer predisposition syndrome associated with high risks for a broad spectrum of cancers including early-onset cancers. Five cancers types account for the majority of the LFS tumors: adrenocortical carcinomas, breast cancer, central nervous system tumors, ostesarcomas, and soft-tissue sarcomas. Other cancers associated with LFS are leukemia, colorectal cancer, stomach cancer, lung cancer, melanoma, pediatric head and neck cancers, pancreatic cancer, and prostate cancer.

This was named after two American physicians, Frederick Pel Li and Joseph F Fraumeni Jr., who first recognized this syndrome after reviewing the medical records and death certificates of childhood rhabdomyosarcoma patients.

This mutation is caused by germline mutations in the TP53 tumor suppressor gene, also mentioned in Germline TP53 mutations and Li-Fraumeni syndrome study. This encodes a transcription factor (p53) that normally regulates cell cycle and prevents genomic mutations. The variants can be inherited, or can arise from mutations early in embryogenesis, or in one of the parent's germ cells.

The Impact Of Rare Cancer Gene

A spokesperson of the company, Juli Paulli Budtz, told The Guardian that the company is “deeply affected by this case.”

Budtz also said that “it is simply not possible to detect disease-causing mutations in a person’s gene pool if you don’t know what you’re looking for,” indicating that prior testing may or may not detect this rare genetic mutation in the sperm donor.

Another detail revealed in The Guardian noted that the time of donation was 2008, when cancer was not linked to the genetic mutation. Thus despite any test, it wouldn’t have been possible to know whether the sperm could have been a cancer career. The Guardian also reported that the outlet also said that the donor is in good health.

Heart attacks have become a common phenomenon. Earlier, it was associated with old age, however, now it is striking more and more young ones. In India, this has raised a major health issue, with 50% of heart attack reported in patients below the age of 40 between 2020 and 2023, as per Dr Ravi Prakash, a senior consultant in cardiology in PSRI Hospital, who cited data from across hospitals. Geetanjali Hospital, Udaipur also reported the same statistics, in fact as per Apollo Hospitals, every minute, about four Indians in the age group of 30 to 50 years experience fatal heart attacks. The hospital website also notes that Indian gets heart attacks 8 to 10 years before any other ethnic group across the world.

What Makes Indians More Vulnerable To Heart Attack At A Younger Age?

What makes Indians more prone to heart attacks—and that too at a younger age? Research suggests a distinct pattern of dyslipidemia (abnormal fat levels in the blood) that, when combined with a natural tendency toward insulin resistance, often leads to early-onset diabetes. Additional contributing factors include smoking, use of other tobacco products, and hypertension. Genetics also play a significant role, with familial hypercholesterolemia being a common cause of premature heart disease in the Indian population.

The impact of today’s fast-paced lifestyle further intensifies this vulnerability. High mental and physical stress—driven by job-related competition and pressure—leads many to adopt harmful habits like smoking and alcohol consumption, both of which are known risk factors for heart disease. A sedentary lifestyle, coupled with insufficient sleep, only compounds these risks.

What Does The Doctor Say?

Dr Rohit Sane, who is the CEO & Managing Director at Madhavbaug Hospitals said that the reason is not a sudden illness, but lifestyle habits, as was also reported by IndiaTV.

He also pointed out four hidden factors which could make young people in India more vulnerable to heart attacks:

Chronic Stress: A Silent Strain on the Heart

Modern life is fast-paced, competitive, and often isolating. Unlike earlier times, where joint families and strong communities provided emotional support, today’s environment leaves many young people juggling pressures from work, social media, and family life — often with little space to breathe.

This constant emotional stress quietly affects both the body and mind. Stress hormones raise blood pressure and blood sugar levels, and they trigger inflammation in blood vessels, increasing the risk of heart attacks over time. Many don’t realise the toll it has taken until warning signs appear — sometimes too late.

Processed Foods: A Hidden Threat in Everyday Diets

The comfort of fresh, home-cooked meals is increasingly being replaced by fast food, packaged snacks, and sugary beverages. These ultra-processed foods are often packed with trans fats, refined sugars, and artificial additives.

Beyond just adding weight, these foods fuel chronic inflammation in the body, quietly damaging artery walls and promoting plaque buildup and clot formation. Over time, this can narrow or block blood flow to the heart, raising the risk of heart attacks — even among those in their 30s.

Lack of Sleep: Skipping Nature’s Recovery Window

Sleep is essential for the body’s repair and reset. Yet, job demands, binge-watching, and screen addiction mean many young adults rarely get the recommended seven to eight hours of rest.

Inadequate sleep disrupts the body's internal rhythm, alters hormones, and elevates stress levels. It also impairs how the body handles sugar and fats, increasing the risk of diabetes and high cholesterol. Skipping sleep regularly is akin to ignoring basic maintenance for the body’s most vital system.

Misplaced Fitness Priorities: Fit Bodies, Stressed Hearts

Fitness trends today often revolve around aesthetics — six-packs, sculpted arms, and social media-ready bodies. But genuine health isn’t just skin deep. True heart health relies on endurance, flexibility, and nervous system balance.

Excessive training without adequate rest, imbalanced routines, or ignoring holistic exercises like yoga, swimming, or brisk walking can put added strain on the heart. Fitness should be about long-term well-being, not just surface-level transformation.

We have all been in spaces where noise was almost killing us and we hoped to reach home, be in silence, and relax. Well, there is, in fact a space like that. It is located in Minneapolis, it is the quietest room on the planet. This is located on East 25th Street, was once known as Sound 80, a studio where Bob Dylan recorded part of his Blood On The Tracks album. However, in the turn of events, the building went from a place of music to the quietest rooms on the planet.

This was bought by Steve Orfield, who is the president of Orfield Laboratories. He had realized that the building is capable of absorbing sounds. This is what makes it an "anechoic chamber".

Orfield says, as CBS News also reports, that the chamber is so quiet that you can hear your joints scratching against each other. Not only this, but you can hear your heartbeat, your internal organs working and "if your hearing is very sensitive, you can hear your lungs flowing."

Why does it happens? Thanks to the airplane cables, each of which hold 1,500 pounds of weight, help keep things quite, while putting a bounce in your step, notes CBS News.

The place is so quiet that many visitors have used it as a challenge to see how long can they stand hearing the sound of their own bodies. As per Caity Weaver of the New York Times Magazine, you can also hear the sound of your eyelids shutting upon blinking.

Is It Really Calming?

While we think that silence has a calming impact, too much silence could actually be unsettling. As per a neuroscientist at Northwestern University who studies human auditory system, Kevin Sitek, people inside an anechoic chamber could also become disoriented. This is because "we have trained out whole lives to hear in natural conditions. Echoes help us orient ourselves very literally in the world...when those are gone, there are no cues beyond the sound itself," he explains.

Sound also help us with stimulation, which is important for our brain. However, Sitek points out that "we do not have a good handle on what happens when there is no stimulation." This is why some people may find silence unsettling.

Another reason why silence could haunt you is also due to sedatephobia, or the fear of silence. People with this phobia need constant stimulation or human contact to fill the void. Too much silence can also cause panic attacks.

Many of us are also uncomfortable with silence because this is something that we have developed over the years. We are used to constant stimulation, and thus too much silence could feel eerie.

Furthermore, many experts also point out that quiet forces us to face our reality and silence can compel us to think things we do not want to think about.

While several studies have proved that too much noise can lead to health issues including heart disease, depression, and anxiety, even triggering body's stress response, there are studies that also show that too much silence could put us in uncomfortable situations.

A 2014 study, titled Just think: The challenges of the disengaged mind, noted that many people would rather receive an electric shock than to continue to sit in silence. Another 2020 study, titled Waiting, thinking, and feeling: variations in the perception of time during silence, published in Frontiers in Psychology noted that silence can make one become more pronounced with their own thoughts. This for many could become unsettling.

The way out is to draw a balance, while you could enjoy silence, but too much of it could make you struggle. However, noise is also something you don't like. Try putting a soothing music to relax you. This balance will help you stay focused, enjoy the silence, but not too much that you hear your own body and get haunted by it.

Have you ever wondered if mental health could actually be contagious—just like a cold or the flu? It sounds wild, but new research suggests it might be more than just metaphorical. We’ve all heard phrases like “good vibes only” or felt someone else’s stress rub off on us, right? But what if your partner’s anxiety, depression, or even insomnia could be passed on through something as intimate as a kiss? Yep, that sweet gesture could be doing more than just bonding hearts. Intrigued? You should be—because this new finding might change how we think about emotional well-being in relationships.

A groundbreaking study out of Iran has introduced a startling new concept: that anxiety and depression may not only be shared emotionally between romantic partners—but biologically transferred through a kiss.

Yes, you read that right. Kissing your partner may not just swap affection, but millions of microbes—some of which may be quietly influencing your mental health.

This new research opens up a fascinating, and somewhat unsettling, frontier in how we understand mental wellness within intimate relationships, pointing to a biological pathway for emotional transmission through oral microbiota.

Love, Intimacy, and the Hidden Microbial Highway

It’s long been accepted that couples tend to influence each other’s behaviors—picking up habits, mimicking routines, and even adopting one another’s speech patterns. But recent scientific inquiries suggest that our bodies—and more precisely, the bacteria within them—might be syncing in much deeper ways.

A team of Iranian researchers, led by Dr. Reza Rastmanesh, followed 268 newlywed couples for six months to explore whether the oral bacteria exchanged during intimate contact—like kissing—might play a role in the development of anxiety, depression, and poor sleep.

Their conclusion? Mental health symptoms can potentially be transmitted biologically, mediated by the microorganisms that reside in our mouths.

The study, published in the journal Exploratory Research and Hypothesis in Medicine, recruited newlywed couples from two private sleep clinics in Tehran. Researchers focused specifically on couples where one spouse had been diagnosed with moderate depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbances—what the researchers referred to as the "depression-anxiety phenotype."

At the beginning of the study, the other partner was entirely healthy—no sleep complaints, no psychological distress, and no history of mental illness. Both partners provided saliva and oral swabs, which were analyzed to assess cortisol levels and map out the oral microbiota using DNA sequencing technology.

After just six months of living together, something remarkable occurred: the healthy spouses began to mirror their partners’ symptoms. Their depression and anxiety scores climbed, they reported trouble sleeping, and—most compellingly—their oral microbiomes began to resemble those of their affected partners. How could something as seemingly benign as kissing transmit psychological symptoms?

According to the study, four specific types of bacteria—Clostridia, Veillonella, Bacillus, and Lachnospiraceae—were found in higher concentrations in the saliva of affected partners. These bacteria have previously been associated with neuroinflammation and mood disorders.

When the researchers analyzed the healthy partners' microbiota after six months, they found a significant increase in these same bacteria—implying microbial transmission had occurred.

This bacterial “convergence” may play a role in disrupting the gut-brain axis, a well-documented communication system between the digestive tract’s microbiome and the central nervous system. The oral cavity is the first gateway in this axis, making these findings especially significant.

Cortisol and the Chemistry of Stress

The study didn’t stop at microbes. Researchers also tracked cortisol, a hormone released during times of stress. Healthy spouses began the study with normal cortisol levels—but after six months, levels spiked, particularly among women.

In some cases, female spouses showed nearly double the cortisol compared to their initial readings, underscoring a clear physiological stress response. This rise in cortisol mirrored the uptick in anxiety and depression symptoms, suggesting a complex chain reaction where microbial exposure leads to hormonal shifts, which in turn may affect mood.

Wy Are Women More Vulnerable?

Interestingly, gender appeared to influence susceptibility to microbial and emotional transmission. Female partners reported higher rates of mood disturbances and sleep issues than their male counterparts, despite starting the study in good mental health.

While the study does not definitively explain why women may be more affected, prior research has shown that women’s immune and hormonal systems are more sensitive to stress-related changes—potentially making them more vulnerable to shifts in microbiota and subsequent mental health symptoms.

The concept of “psychological synchrony” in relationships is not new. Previous studies have documented how couples’ heart rates, stress levels, and even reproductive hormone cycles can align over time. But this new study adds a biological layer to emotional co-regulation: one that literally lives inside our mouths.

While the idea that mental illness might be “contagious” through bacteria may sound like science fiction, it builds on a growing body of evidence linking gut and oral microbiomes to cognitive and emotional health.

“Oral microbiota transmission between individuals in close contact partially mediates symptoms of depression and anxiety,” the researchers concluded—urging the scientific community to consider bacteria as potential contributors in the mental health equation.

Of course, this study is not without its limitations. The researchers noted that they did not account for underlying health conditions, dietary habits, or genetic predispositions that may influence oral microbiota.

Still, the implications are vast. If further studies confirm these findings, oral health may become a new frontier in mental health interventions. Could probiotic therapies or personalized oral hygiene routines serve as preventive strategies for couples living with mental illness? Could clinicians someday assess microbial profiles to predict emotional risk?

Dr. Rastmanesh and his team believe this is just the beginning. They have called for more longitudinal studies to explore whether similar bacterial patterns are found in couples with longer marriages and in other mental health conditions such as bipolar disorder or post-traumatic stress.

Should You Worry About Your Next Kiss?

Not necessarily, the study doesn’t suggest we should avoid kissing or sharing close contact with loved ones. Intimacy remains a cornerstone of healthy relationships. But it does encourage us to broaden our understanding of what it means to be “in sync” with a partner—not just emotionally, but biologically.

As our knowledge of the human microbiome evolves, so too must our understanding of mental health. This study may not offer all the answers, but it raises critical questions about how deeply our relationships shape us—right down to the microscopic level.