Everybody gets anxious—sometimes over the smallest things, like choosing an outfit for a dinner date or dealing with a minor misunderstanding. But anxiety reaches an entirely different level when it revolves around health concerns, especially when waiting for a medical diagnosis.

When fatigue had crept in weeks ago for Daisy, a dull weight pressing against her limbs. At first, she tried to dismiss it as stress and the work she was putting in for her new business, but then came the night sweats, the persistent cough, the bruises appearing without reason. Although she feared something was wrong she hesitated to get it checked. Yet, the fear of made her call her GP and get a appointment scheduled. And as she waited for the results, her mind continued running from what if it was serious? to what if it changed everything?

The thought tightened around her chest than the sickness itself. It can feel like minutes are hours, days stretch to eternity, and uncertainty is overwhelming. This is a state of heightened distress—commonly referred to as 'scanxiety.' It is all too real for many people who are going in for medical testing, especially with potentially serious diagnoses such as cancer. Knowing what scanxiety is, how it affects the body and mind, and learning good coping mechanisms helps ease the emotional toll it takes.

What is Scanxiety?

Scanxiety is a term used to describe the high level of anxiety and fear a person feels when waiting for the results of a medical test or a diagnosis. It is common in cancer patients, who may undergo multiple scans over time. Nonetheless, any individual who faces uncertainty about his or her health will experience scanxiety.

Unlike general anxiety, which is provoked by everyday stressors and often subsides after a situation has been resolved, scanxiety lingers, builds, and frequently recurs with every medical test. The fear isn't just of the tests themselves but of what the results could mean for the future.

Symptoms of Scanxiety

Scanxiety appears in both physical and emotional symptoms. Some of the most common symptoms include:

• Shortness of breath and palpitations
• Perspiration and body aches
• Dizziness
• Nausea and loss of appetite
• Somnia and temper
• Intensified fear and panic

Others have scanxiety become so disabling that it reaches chronic stress impacting the daily way of life. Chronic stress from the National Cancer Institute may not cause cancer itself but can heighten the way cancer progresses on the diagnosed victim.

What is the Difference Between Scanxiety and Anxiety?

Where general anxiety arises due to a wide array of life situations, including work stress, financial worries, or interpersonal issues, scanxiety only comes by way of medical concerns and intensifies with the weight of possibly life-changing news.

The scan experience is a different kind of distress: it's the experience of lying on an MRI machine or awaiting a call from a doctor. This is often a higher stakes situation, and nothing else, at the moment, can claim the center stage of one's attention. In fact, one hears that many people who have had repeated scanning over the years report an increase in anxiety despite familiarity with the process.

How Diagnosis Builds Resilience and Coping Skills

While anxiety can be a natural response to uncertainty, resilience can be built to manage scanxiety very effectively. Studies suggest that resiliency-the ability to adapt and recover from stress-improves mental well-being and overall quality of life.

A 2017 study in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation showed that people with greater resilience had better mental health even when faced with physical challenges. Another study, published in Arthritis Care & Research (2019), showed that patients with chronic conditions develop resilience through coping strategies like social support, adaptability, and mindfulness.

Resilience is not innate; it's like a muscle that can be developed over time. The first step to cope with scanxiety is the recognition of the emotion without judgment. Accepting the fact that fear is normal lets people move toward constructive coping mechanisms.

Ways to Cope With Scanxiety

1. Reframe Negative Thoughts

Our internal dialogue plays a significant role in how we view uncertainty. Do not assume the worst; instead, consciously battle negative thoughts. Remind yourself that uncertainty does not equal catastrophe.

Use affirmations such as:

• "I am strong and capable of handling whatever comes my way."
• "I will take this one step at a time."
• "I am doing everything within my control to care for my health."

2. Engage in a 'Flow State' Activity

Distraction is a powerful tool against scanxiety. Finding an activity that fully engages your attention can help shift your focus away from waiting. Whether it’s painting, cooking, solving puzzles, or exercising, immersing yourself in a task can provide mental relief.

A simple test: Ask yourself, "What is an activity that makes me lose track of time?" Then do it for at least 15 minutes. The goal is to keep the mind occupied and reduce overthinking.

3. Avoid 'Doomscrolling' and Worst-Case Scenarios

The internet is a double-edged sword—while it provides information, it also amplifies fear. Avoid searching for symptoms or reading worst-case survival statistics. These can increase panic rather than provide clarity.

Limit your online health searches and refocus your attention on other credible sources when needed.

4. 'Worry Time'

If intruding thoughts become all-consuming, then schedule a time (such as 10 minutes in the evening) to dwell on and work through them. Writing down worries in a journal and going back to them later can help anxiety not hijack your entire day.

5. Relaxation Techniques

There are ways to help ease scanxiety including deep breathing, guided meditation, and progressive muscle relaxation. Some useful ones include:

• Box Breathing: Breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 4, breathe out for 4 seconds, hold for 4
• Visualizing: Imagine yourself in a peaceful scene, such as a beach or a forest
• Mindfulness Meditation: Focus on the present moment, not future worries

6. Communication with your medical team

Ask your doctor how long it will take to receive results and request a preferred method of communication (phone call, email, or in-person discussion). If waiting is particularly stressful, express your concerns and see if an expedited process is possible.

7. Lean on a Support System

Talking to friends, family, or support groups can be comforting. Sometimes, voicing fears out loud can take away some of the power. If needed, professional counseling can help navigate scanxiety in a structured way.

Scanxiety is a deeply personal and overwhelming experience, but it is manageable. Acknowledging the fear, practicing resilience-building techniques, and adopting practical coping strategies, people can navigate the waiting period with a greater sense of calm and control.

Due to rising obesity levels, sedentary lifestyles, and a rapidly aging population, type 2 diabetes has become far more common than it was a few decades ago. While high-income countries saw a decline in diabetes-related deaths between 2000 and 2010, this trend reversed from 2010 to 2016. As a result, there has been an overall 5 percent rise in premature deaths linked to diabetes since 2000.

What is especially concerning is that type 2 diabetes is now increasingly diagnosed in children, largely driven by poor diet, excess weight, and lack of physical activity. Beyond its well-known effects on the heart, kidneys, eyes, and nerves, diabetes is also associated with long-term conditions affecting the brain, including dementia.

This raises an important question: how exactly are diabetes and dementia connected? To understand this better, we spoke to Dr Prabhojit Mohanty, Psychiatrist, Sexologist, and De-addiction Specialist, who shared insights on the link.

What Is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a long-term metabolic disorder in which blood sugar levels remain consistently high. This happens either because the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or because the body is unable to use insulin properly. Insulin plays a crucial role in helping glucose enter cells to be used as energy. When this process is disrupted, sugar builds up in the bloodstream, gradually causing damage to vital organs such as the heart, eyes, kidneys, and nerves.

The two main forms are Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune condition that requires lifelong insulin therapy, and Type 2 diabetes, which is linked to insulin resistance and influenced by lifestyle and genetic factors, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

What Is Dementia?

Dementia refers to a group of symptoms marked by a significant decline in cognitive abilities that interferes with everyday functioning. It affects memory, thinking, reasoning, and decision-making. Dementia is not a single disease but an umbrella term for conditions caused by different underlying disorders, the most common being Alzheimer’s disease.

As dementia progresses, symptoms become more severe, affecting mood, behavior, and the ability to carry out routine activities, often leading to increased dependence on others. Early diagnosis can help slow progression and improve quality of life, as noted by the Alzheimer’s Association.

Diabetes And Dementia: What Is The Link?

An expanding body of research points to a clear association between diabetes and dementia. Large-scale studies and meta-analyses indicate that individuals with diabetes face nearly a 59 percent higher risk of developing dementia compared to those without the condition. This increased risk applies to both Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia and tends to rise the longer a person lives with diabetes. From a clinical perspective, several mechanisms are involved. Persistently high blood sugar levels and insulin resistance cause damage to both small and large blood vessels. Over time, this harms the brain’s microvasculature, reducing blood supply and raising the likelihood of strokes and vascular dementia.

Dr Prabhojit Mohanty explained, “When diabetes occurs alongside hypertension, the danger becomes even greater. Both conditions speed up damage to blood vessels in the brain. High blood pressure weakens vessel walls and contributes to plaque formation, which further limits blood flow to the brain. From a biological standpoint, insulin has roles beyond regulating sugar. When the brain becomes resistant to insulin, it affects neuron health, communication between brain cells, and how the brain uses glucose, increasing vulnerability to neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.”

Scientists have also introduced the idea of “type 3 diabetes” to describe Alzheimer’s disease as a condition driven by insulin resistance within the brain itself. According to this theory, impaired insulin signalling in neural tissue plays a role in the buildup of amyloid plaques and tau tangles, which are defining features of Alzheimer’s disease. People with diabetes often also struggle with high blood pressure and abnormal cholesterol levels. Together, these factors further raise the risk of dementia and significantly affect the quality of life of both patients and their caregivers. Detecting diabetes early, maintaining good control of blood sugar and blood pressure, and adopting healthier lifestyle habits can go a long way in protecting cognitive function with age.

In simple terms, there is strong clinical and biological evidence showing a clear and well-established connection between diabetes and dementia.

People using injectable weight loss drugs may need long-term medical and lifestyle support, researchers have warned, after a large study found that weight is regained far more quickly than with traditional diet and exercise plans. Scientists at the University of Oxford found that people taking medications such as semaglutide (Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro) lose weight while on treatment, but typically regain it within around 20 months after stopping the injections.

The study also showed that improvements in blood sugar control, cholesterol levels, and blood pressure fade once the drugs are discontinued, leaving patients back at their original health markers. By comparison, people who lose weight through structured diet and exercise programmes tend to maintain the loss for longer, close to four years on average, although most eventually regain weight as well.

Health Gains Reverse After Treatment Ends

The findings come alongside separate research from University College London and the University of Cambridge, which suggests that people prescribed newer weight loss drugs could face risks such as nutrient deficiencies and loss of muscle mass. Under current NHS rules, Wegovy can only be prescribed for up to two years, while Mounjaro has no set time limit.

Most people using these medications pay for them privately, due to strict NHS eligibility criteria. Research indicates that around half stop treatment, often because of cost, side effects, or because they feel they have reached their target weight.

The Oxford analysis, published in the British Medical Journal, reviewed 37 studies involving more than 9,000 participants. On average, people stayed on medication for 10 months and were followed up for eight months after treatment ended.

Across all weight loss drugs, participants lost an average of 8.3 kg during treatment, but regained 4.8 kg within a year, returning to their starting weight within about 1.7 years. Those taking Wegovy or Mounjaro lost nearly 15 kg, but regained around 10 kg in the first year after stopping. Based on projections from one year of data, full weight regain occurred within roughly 1.5 years. Measures linked to heart and metabolic health, including blood glucose and cholesterol, also returned to baseline within about 1.4 years.

Experts Say Obesity Requires Ongoing Care

Professor Susan Jebb, professor of diet and population health at the University of Oxford and an adviser to ministers and the NHS on obesity, said the findings were clear. “What we’ve shown is that weight regain after medication is common and happens quickly. The benefits for blood sugar and cholesterol closely track weight changes, so when weight comes back, those benefits disappear too.”

She noted that weight regained after medication happens almost four times faster than after behaviour-based programmes, regardless of how much weight was initially lost. Professor Jebb said long-term solutions may be necessary, whether through ongoing medication, behavioural support, or a combination of both.

“Obesity is a chronic, relapsing condition,” she said. “It’s reasonable to expect that treatment may need to continue for life, much like medicines for high blood pressure. We should think of this as long-term treatment for a long-term condition.”

She added that combining diet and exercise programmes with drug treatment helps people lose more weight initially. However, once medication stops and appetite returns, those strategies alone often fail to prevent regain. In contrast, people in behavioural programmes without drugs may practice these habits more consistently, which could explain why weight regain is slower.

Professor Jebb said it is clear that some form of ongoing intervention is needed if the benefits of weight loss drugs are to last. Some patients try tapering doses or using medication intermittently, while others rely on lifestyle support alone, but she said evidence on what works best remains limited.

Sam West, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford and co-author of the study, said: “People on medication lose more weight than those in behavioural programmes, but they regain it about four times faster.”

The researchers also questioned whether long-term drug treatment is cost-effective for the NHS. They concluded that since obesity is a long-term, relapsing condition, extended use of weight management medications may be needed to maintain health benefits.

Concerns Over Nutrition and Muscle Loss

Separate findings published in Obesity Reviews highlighted gaps in nutritional guidance for people taking semaglutide and tirzepatide. Dr Marie Spreckley from the University of Cambridge said many patients receive little structured advice on diet quality, protein intake, or micronutrient needs, despite significant appetite suppression.

“If nutritional care isn’t built into treatment,” she said, “there’s a real risk of trading one health problem for another, through avoidable nutrient deficiencies and unnecessary muscle loss.”

An NHS spokesperson said that while these drugs are a valuable addition to weight loss treatment, they are not a quick fix. “They must be combined with lifestyle and behavioural support, including advice on healthy eating and physical activity, to help people maintain weight loss over time,” the spokesperson said.

Long COVID should be viewed as a web of overlapping symptoms rather than a single, uniform condition, according to a new systematic review published in eClinicalMedicine and reported by the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP). The review highlights several recurring symptom patterns linked to long COVID, including neurological, respiratory, smell and taste-related, cardiopulmonary, and fatigue-driven clusters.

Researchers led by a team from Lanzhou University in Gansu, China, examined data from 64 studies conducted across 20 countries, covering nearly 2.4 million people. They grouped long COVID patients into subtypes using different approaches: symptom overlap in 30 studies, affected organ systems in 16 studies, symptom severity in nine, clinical markers in three, and other classification methods in the remaining research.

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COVID Symptoms 2026: Fatigue Emerges As The Most Common Symptom

Among studies that focused on how symptoms appear together, fatigue stood out as the most consistently reported issue. It often occurred alone or alongside problems such as muscle and joint pain, brain fog, or breathlessness. Other symptom pairings that appeared frequently included loss of smell and taste, anxiety with depression, and various forms of musculoskeletal pain.

When researchers classified patients based on affected organ systems, respiratory problems were the most widespread, seen in about 47% of long COVID patients. Neurological symptoms followed at 31%, while gastrointestinal issues were reported by 28%. The authors stressed that these percentages reflect how often these clusters appeared within long COVID cases studied, not how common they are in the general population.

A smaller number of studies sorted patients by how severe their symptoms were, dividing them into mild, moderate, or severe categories using symptom scores, symptom counts, or quality-of-life measures. Three studies used clinical indicators for classification, including abnormal triglyceride levels and signs of restricted lung function on imaging.

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COVID Symptoms 2026: Women Report Fatigue More Often

The review also found that long COVID subtypes vary based on demographic, socioeconomic, and medical factors. Women were more likely to report fatigue and neuropsychiatric symptoms, while men more commonly experienced respiratory issues. Older adults tended to show higher rates of respiratory, cardio-renal, and ear, nose, and throat symptoms.

Racial and ethnic differences also emerged. Black and Hispanic individuals were more likely to experience respiratory, cardiac, and neuropsychiatric symptoms, whereas White patients showed higher rates of fatigue and musculoskeletal complaints.

COVID-19 variants appeared to influence symptom patterns as well. The researchers noted that the Alpha variant was closely linked to smell-related and respiratory symptoms, while the Delta variant raised the risk of ENT-related problems. In addition, higher body mass index, socioeconomic disadvantage, and existing conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were strongly associated with cardiopulmonary symptom clusters and a heavier overall long COVID burden.

Overall, the findings reinforce that long COVID rarely affects just one system in the body. Instead, it tends to involve multiple overlapping symptom groups, pointing to the need for more tailored, patient-specific care.

The authors call for future studies to focus on creating standardized ways to classify long COVID, identifying the biological mechanisms behind different symptom clusters, and testing targeted treatments for specific subtypes. They note that this approach will be essential for moving toward precision medicine and improving outcomes for people living with long COVID.