The image of acid conjures up bubbling test tubes and burning, but in reality, it is necessary to maintain healthy skin. Various acids like salicylic, glycolic, kojic, and ascorbic acids are often dubbed as keys to happy skin. Besides face acids, there are other acids that are naturally present in the skin and help resolve many skin concerns like hydration, and skin damage, and help slow down the aging process.

What are Amino Acids?

Benefits of Amino Acids for Skin

Amino acids play a crucial role in maintaining skin health, with recent research highlighting their diverse benefits. Essential amino acids like glycine, proline, and lysine are vital for producing collagen and elastin, proteins that give skin its structure and elasticity. A decrease in these proteins accelerates skin ageing, so consuming foods rich in these amino acids can support youthful skin.

Amino acids also aid in wound healing. According to dermatologist Dr Ruben Bhasin Passi, they promote skin cell growth and tissue formation, which helps close wounds and minimize scarring. Additionally, amino acids act as natural moisturizers. They help draw and retain moisture in the skin's outer layers, preventing dryness that can lead to acne, irritation, and premature ageing, as noted in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology.

Certain amino acids, like tyrosine, have antioxidant properties that protect the skin from UV damage by neutralizing free radicals, which are linked to premature ageing. Furthermore, amino acids such as arginine and glutamine possess anti-inflammatory effects that can alleviate conditions like eczema, psoriasis, and acne, reducing overall skin inflammation.

Health experts are sounding the alarm over nitazenes, a powerful class of synthetic opioids, driving a deadly wave of overdoses across Europe and slowly appearing in the United States.

For years, fentanyl has been blamed for the worst drug crisis in the West. But nitazenes, first developed in the 1950s and never approved for medical use, are emerging as an even deadlier substitute. Many of these compounds are 50 to 250 times stronger than heroin and up to five times more potent than fentanyl. Even trace amounts can cause a fatal overdose.

A Hidden Killer in the Drug Supply

Nitazenes are rarely taken intentionally. More often, they are laced into heroin, counterfeit painkillers, anxiety medications like Xanax and Valium, and even recreational drugs such as cocaine, ketamine, and ecstasy. Users often have no idea they are consuming them, which makes the risk of overdose even higher.

In the United Kingdom, reports the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), at least 400 people died from nitazene-related overdoses in just 18 months leading up to January 2024. Vicki Markiewicz, executive director for the treatment provider Change Grow Live, calls it “the biggest public health crisis for people who use drugs in the U.K. since the AIDS crisis in the 1980s,” reports WSJ.

When a batch of contaminated drugs hits the streets, the result is often clusters of overdoses. In Dublin late last year, about 80 people needed emergency care over a single weekend. In March, 31 overdoses were reported in just a few days in north London.

Families Searching for Answers

The human toll is devastating. In north Wales, police knocked on Anne Jacques’s door to tell her that her 23-year-old son, Alex Harpum, a healthy, rising opera singer, had died in his London apartment, reports the Journal. Initially ruled as sudden adult death syndrome, further testing revealed nitazenes in counterfeit Xanax he had purchased illegally.

“I basically had to investigate my own son’s death,” Jacques said. “You feel like your child has been murdered.”

Similar tragedies are emerging worldwide. In May, two young Londoners died after taking what was believed to be oxycodone laced with nitazenes following a night out.

Why the Drug Is Spreading So Fast

Most nitazenes are manufactured in China and sold online, often openly advertised on global trade websites. Dealers mix them with bulking agents like caffeine to stretch supplies and increase profits. The drug’s extreme potency makes it easy to smuggle in small quantities, appealing to criminal networks.

While the U.S. has reported nitazenes in at least 4,300 drug seizures since 2019, often in fentanyl mixtures, testing remains inconsistent, and official death counts are almost certainly underreported.

Experts warn that the Taliban’s 2022 ban on poppy cultivation, which slashed heroin production, could push traffickers toward synthetic opioids. Countries like Estonia, already battling nitazene-linked overdoses, are bracing for what could become a repeat of fentanyl’s deadly grip in the early 2000s.

A Race Against Time

Authorities say this is a global problem. Nitazenes have been detected on every continent, and without swift action, the death toll could escalate sharply. Health agencies are urging expanded drug testing, public education, and widespread distribution of naloxone, the opioid overdose antidote.

For people like Tina Harris, a long-time heroin user in London who survived a nitazene overdose thanks to naloxone, a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose, notes the National Institutes of Health, US, the danger is clear. “It’s a devil’s trap,” she said. “You never know what’s really in what you’re taking, and by the time you find out, it can be too late.”

What Are Nitazenes?

As per the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, Nitazenes are a powerful class of synthetic opioids, drugs that act on opioid receptors in the brain and are chemically related to compounds derived from the opium poppy. They were first developed about 60 years ago as a possible alternative to morphine.

How They Appear

Nitazenes can be sold as a white or brownish-yellow powder, crystalline solid, or pressed into counterfeit pills that resemble prescription painkillers like oxycodone. They have also been detected in heroin, ketamine, synthetic cannabinoids, and other recreational drugs.

Common types include:

• Isotonitazene
• Metonitazene
• Etonitazene
• Protonitazene

They are sometimes referred to as benzimidazole opioids, synthetic opioids, or new psychoactive substances (NPS).

How They’re Used

Nitazenes can be injected, inhaled, or swallowed in tablet form. The effects vary from person to person, depending on factors such as body weight, overall health, tolerance, whether other substances are taken, the dose, and the potency of the batch.

Short-Term Effects

Like other opioids, nitazenes can produce:

• Euphoria and relaxation
• Drowsiness and clumsiness
• Pain relief
• Reduced stress
• Itchiness
• Nausea and vomiting
• Fever and sweating
• Slowed breathing and heart rate

Overdose Risks

Because nitazenes can be as potent, or even more potent, than fentanyl, the risk of overdose is extremely high. Signs of overdose include:

• Slow or shallow breathing
• Blue or gray lips and skin
• Loss of consciousness
• Coma
• Death

We all have body aches and pains from time to time, be it from a grueling workout, a small fall, or just the wear and tear of life. Most of the time, these pains subside with rest or mild treatments, and we go on. But what if that nagging ache in your bone isn't "just an injury"? What if it's your body's way of telling you something much more sinister, a warning sign easily ignored?

Bone cancer is one of those hidden yet serious conditions that tends to cloak itself with frequent symptoms. Its beginnings can disguise themselves as anything from an athletic injury to arthritis, so it's intensely difficult to detect until it's quite far along. This stealthiness causes millions of people to unknowingly overlook vital symptoms, postponing detection and treatment.

Bone cancer is usually eclipsed by more common cancers, but its early diagnosis is a make-or-break issue. The problem is that it quietly develops and exhibits symptoms that look exactly like common injuries or orthopedic problems. What may begin as a nagging pain could really be the body's initial indication of something much more sinister. Being aware of these underappreciated signs and knowing the value of early diagnosis can alter the treatment course—and save lives.

How Bone Cancer Hurts More Than a Pain of an Injury

One of the greatest challenges with bone cancer is that its beginning signs are too readily confused with normal injuries.

• Ongoing pain
• Swollen areas around joints
• Pain that is believed to be a result of sports or daily activities

These tend to make individuals and sometimes physicians write off the issue as trivial. The discomfort is dull, sporadic, and does not necessarily affect movement right away, thus slowing down the urgent seeking of medical help.

Dr. Ashish Bangar, a Surgical Oncology Assistant Professor at D. Y. Patil Hospital, points to the importance of pain patterns. "Bone pain that isn't relieved by rest or regular painkillers, especially if it increases at night, should never be taken lightly. What may appear to be a minor injury may turn out to be an initial warning sign of bone cancer," he says. This nighttime rise in pain is an indication or red flag that is many times ignored.

Aside from pain, swelling around joints without apparent injury or trauma is also a sign of malignancy. Even fractures caused by low-impact incidents—something that would not otherwise crack bones—can be signs of cancer-caused bone weakening. However, these signs usually go undetected or are blamed on less severe conditions until the disease has advanced.

Why Early and Correct Diagnosis Is Critical?

Early diagnosis of bone cancer is not merely about finding it but doing so with accuracy and comprehensiveness. Advanced technologies for imaging, such as MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scans, have advanced the diagnostic process, enabling doctors to identify suspicious lesions with greater precision. It is not merely the removal of barriers to such technology that is required.

Expert opinion is key. Biopsies or misdiagnosis by nonspecialized personnel can drastically curtail treatment options. A botched biopsy, for instance, may disqualify the patient for limb-salvage procedures that attempt to save as much of the patient's limb as possible instead of resorting to amputation.

Multidisciplinary treatment including radiologists, surgical oncologists, pathologists, and medical oncologists is the need of the hour. This kind of integration guarantees that imaging, biopsy, and systemic treatment modalities are optimized to suit the patient's individual condition. In D. Y. Patil Hospital in Pune, a tertiary care center, this has resulted in improved survival and overall quality of life for patients through more successful, limb-sparing treatments.

Why Are Bone Cancer Patients Diagnosed Late?

One of the biggest challenges to bone cancer treatment is delayed access to specialist cancer centers. Although urban tertiary hospitals are well-endowed with good diagnostics and multidisciplinary expertise, a lot of patients do not get referred to specialists in time. The reasons are diverse—poverty of information, attribution of symptoms to benign conditions, or distance and cost.

This delay frequently results in patients seeking care with advanced disease, when the choices are fewer and the prognosis is poorer. Extensive bone destruction or metastasis has already taken place in many instances by the time patients come to specialized centers.

Closing this access gap involves system changes—not only in health infrastructure, but in education of the public. Individuals must appreciate that chronic or unexplained bone pain is not something to be ignored or waited out.

Promisingly, therapeutic and diagnostic advances are revolutionizing the prognosis for bone cancer patients. Limb-conserving surgeries are now much more possible, thanks to advanced imaging and refined surgical methods. Targeted systemic treatments and chemotherapy regimens specific to certain bone cancers have further increased survival rates.

Early detection is still the foundation of these advances. If detected early, treatment can be minimally invasive, more efficient, and greatly enhance patients' quality of life. This improvement emphasizes the need for vigilance—both by patients and healthcare professionals.

Bone Cancer Awareness is a timely reminder that ongoing bone pain and swelling should never be taken lightly. If you or someone you know has ongoing or unexplained bone pain, swelling around joints, or fractures from minor trauma, it's important to have evaluation beyond the general practitioner level. Orthopedic or oncology specialists have the training to pick out subtle warning signs and get appropriate tests started.

Bolstering public awareness and education initiatives can break the cycle of delayed diagnosis. No less vital is empowering the primary care physician to recognize such signs early and refer patients to specialists in a timely manner.

Bone cancer is uncommon, but the consequences are high. What might start as a seemingly harmless pain can be the initial sign of a critical illness. Early identification of symptoms, professional diagnosis, and coordinated treatment plans can be the difference between disability and health.

From chronic pain to a potentially life-saving diagnosis, the word is out: don't ignore the pain. Early detection saves lives, saves limbs, and gives patients their best hope at a healthy future. If your bone pain doesn't resolve or gets worse without good reason, seek out a specialist. Your bones could be saying something more than mere injury.

We all know deep down that greasy burgers, cheesy pizzas and creamy milkshakes are not exactly health food. But a new study suggests that even a single fatty blowout could momentarily trip up the brain’s blood supply, possibly nudging the risk of stroke and dementia.

Dietary fat is not evil. In fact, it is essential, as it fuels our bodies, ferries vitamins around, cushions our organs and even acts as built-in insulation. But not all fats are created equal. The two main types, saturated and unsaturated, behave differently in the body.

Saturated fats, found in things like butter, fatty cuts of meat, and indulgent pizzas, are infamous for their role in clogging arteries and stressing the heart. And, it turns out, the trouble they stir up may not stop at the chest.

The Brain’s Delicate Fuel Line

Your brain is a high-maintenance organ with minimal energy reserves. To keep thoughts, memories and reflexes firing, it depends on a steady stream of oxygen and glucose carried by the blood.

That stability is maintained by a process called dynamic cerebral autoregulation, the brain’s own “shock absorber” that keeps blood flow steady despite everyday changes in blood pressure, like when you stand up too fast or hit the treadmill. When this safety system falters, blood flow can fluctuate wildly, depriving the brain of oxygen one moment and flooding it the next. Over time, that instability can pave the way for strokes or dementia.

What the Study Did

To see how saturated fat affects this process, researchers recruited 41 men — 20 aged 18 to 35 and 21 aged 60 to 80. They tested how well the participants’ blood vessels performed before and four hours after eating a meal loaded with saturated fat.

And the test meal? A milkshake nicknamed “the brain bomb”, made mostly of heavy whipping cream, packing 1,362 calories and 130 grams of fat. That’s a fat load worthy of a fast-food feast.

Before and after the milkshake, the researchers measured how well arm blood vessels could widen in response to increased blood flow (an indicator of heart health) and how well brain vessels managed blood pressure swings. For the brain test, participants did body-weight squats while ultrasound tracked their blood flow.

What They Found

The results were sobering. The study published in Science Direct says that both young and older participants showed reduced ability for blood vessels linked to the heart to expand after the fatty shake. And the brain’s “shock absorbers” were weaker too, meaning blood flow regulation suffered.

Older adults fared worse, with about a 10 per cent greater decline than the younger group. That suggests ageing brains are more vulnerable to the short-term effects of saturated fat, a problem given that older adults are already at greater risk for stroke and neurodegenerative disease.

The study did not test mental performance directly, but previous research by the same team found that a high-fat meal can spike free radicals (unstable molecules that damage cells) and reduce nitric oxide (a key player in relaxing blood vessels). Together, these changes could explain why blood flow regulation took a hit.

While one occasional takeaway would not doom you, the researchers stress that every fatty meal has an immediate, measurable effect on the body and the brain.

Why This Matters More Than You Think

The NHS advises men to keep saturated fat intake under 30 grams a day and women under 20 grams. Yet many of us overshoot that regularly, especially on weekends. And we spend much of our day in a “post-prandial” state, the hours after eating when fat levels in the blood are elevated. If those hours are when our brains are most vulnerable, that is a lot of potential exposure.

Interestingly, the study only looked at men. It is still unknown how women’s brains respond to a high-fat meal, even though women have a higher lifetime risk of stroke and dementia. The effects of unsaturated fat in a single meal are also a mystery, though foods like oily fish, walnuts and seeds are linked to better brain and heart health over time.

This research serves as a reminder that diet does not just shape our long-term health; it changes our body and brain in real time.