The tool we use to communicate and express ourselves could be the very messenger of the difficult diagnosis of cancer. Laryngeal cancer affects the larynx, the organ that helps us breathe and speak. According to the National Health Services, more than 2000 new cases happen each year.

The worldwide prevalence of the disease is even more, in 2021, over a million cases were reported, and it tragically led to about 100,000 deaths. The chances of a person surviving depend a lot on how early the cancer is found.

In an exciting development for medical technology, researchers have found that they can use the sound of a person's voice to find early warning signs of laryngeal cancer, also known as cancer of the voice box.

Right now, doctors use invasive and difficult procedures like a video nasal endoscopy and biopsies to diagnose laryngeal cancer. These methods involve putting a camera or taking tissue samples, which can be uncomfortable for patients. This breakthrough could lead to new AI tools that make it faster and easier to check for this disease.

How Voice Recordings Could Help Detect Cancer

Researchers from Oregon Health and Science University studied over 12,500 voice recordings from 306 people. Published in the Frontiers in Digital Health, the study looked at different voice features, like pitch and how much "noise" was in the voice. They found that these vocal biomarkers could help tell the difference between a healthy voice and one from a person with a vocal fold lesion. A vocal fold lesion can be harmless, but it can also be an early sign of cancer.

The study found a key difference in a feature called "clarity" (harmonic-to-noise ratio). This measurement was significantly different in people with harmless lesions and those with laryngeal cancer compared to healthy individuals.

What Are Symptoms of Laryngeal Cancer?

Laryngeal cancer, or cancer of the voice box, can have several symptoms. The most common one is a hoarse voice that lasts for more than 3 weeks. Other symptoms to watch for include:

• A change in your voice, such as it sounding different or hoarse.
• Pain or trouble when you swallow.
• A lump or swelling in your neck.
• A long-lasting cough or feeling short of breath.
• A sore throat or earache that doesn't go away.
• A high-pitched, wheezing sound when you breathe.
• In serious cases, you may have trouble breathing.
• Some people may also have bad breath, lose weight without trying, or feel extremely tired.

Future of AI in Diagnosis

This research suggests that voice recordings could become a simple, non-invasive way to detect cancer risks. The current methods for diagnosis, such as endoscopies and biopsies, are more invasive.

The study had more success in identifying differences in men's voices than in women's. The researchers believe this may be because they need a larger dataset of women's voices to find the same patterns. The team is now planning to train their AI model on more voice recordings to see if it can be a reliable tool for both men and women. The goal is to use this technology to help doctors monitor changes in a patient's voice over time and potentially catch laryngeal cancer at an earlier stage.

When we are learning things, we use our five senses sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing. However, even after understanding things with these five senses, one cannot guarantee that they will retain all the information they learn from these senses. Is there a way we can increase our capability of learning? Researchers have found out that if we had 7 senses, they could’ve aided us in better learning.

Researchers at Skoltech created a math formula, a mathematical model, to figure out how our memory works. The results they got are really interesting and could help make robots and artificial intelligence (AI) smarter and also teach us more about the human brain. The study's main idea, published in Scientific Reports, is that there might be a perfect number of senses for storing information, and that our current five senses might not be enough.

How Can We Measure Memories?

To build their model, the team focused on tiny, basic parts of memory called engrams. Think of engrams as the building blocks of memory. An engram is essentially a small, spread-out group of brain cells (neurons) that flash or "fire" together when you think of something. Each engram represents a single concept or idea, like your memory of a banana.

How do we know what a banana is? We use our senses! Its yellow appearance, its sweet smell, its unique taste. The model treats these sensory details as features or dimensions. Since humans have five main senses: sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing, a banana, in your mind's memory space, it is a five-dimensional object.

These memory blocks, the engrams, don't stay the same. They change over time, becoming clearer or fuzzier depending on how often you interact with the real-world object. This process of changing engrams is how we learn and forget.

How Many Senses Do We Need For Memory?

First, they showed that memories tend to settle down into a stable, lasting pattern over time. They called this a "steady state." This means that after a learning period, a fixed, or "mature," way of organizing memories is set up.

Next, the team tried to figure out the maximum number of distinct ideas or concepts (the memory capacity) that could be held in this stable system. They discovered that memory is at its absolute best (it stores the most distinct concepts) when each idea is described by seven features or dimensions.

The experts working on the research explained that they found out that when we understand the concept with all seven senses, there is a bigger probability of retaining things. This means that if our brains had seven senses instead of five, we might be able to process and remember a much larger number of distinct concepts, leading to the "seven senses claim."

Can We Train AI To Have 7 Senses?

This number, seven, suggests that if you want a system to have the deepest understanding of the world, having seven inputs is the way to go. Researchers found that the number seven showed up consistently as the best number, no matter how they slightly changed the other parts of their memory model. It seems to be a solid rule for how memory blocks (engrams) work.

While the idea of evolving new human senses is just a fun thought, the seven-sense finding is very practical for technology. If you design an AI or robot to have seven different ways of "sensing" the world, its memory and ability to understand new concepts might be greatly improved. One small detail is that the model considers memories that are very similar, even if they have slightly different sizes to represent just one concept when counting the total capacity.

A heart attack happens when the blood supply to the heart is blocked. It deprives the heart of oxygen and thus causes severe damage. While many people believe that a heart attack comes all of a sudden, and one of the most common and heard of symptom is a dramatic chest pain, doctors emphasize that warning signs may be subtle and have been there from a long time.

Many times, the warning signs exist, but we ignore it, because we do not know that it could be related to heart diseases. Awareness of these early indicators could be life-saving.

A Delhi-based physician Dr Obaidur Rahman, helps us identify one such symptom of heart attack that you would otherwise miss.

Orthopnoea: A Subtle Sign

Dr Rahman is a physician at Delhi's Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, and says that the signs of heart attack could arrive days in advance, including orthopnoea.

It is a condition where a person experiences difficulty breathing while lying flat. “The problem is that 92 per cent of people ignore them,” he says. Dr. Rahman’s Instagram post on the topic has gained widespread attention, emphasizing the importance of recognizing this subtle, potentially life-saving symptom.

What is Orthopnea?

Orthopnea is breathlessness that occurs when lying on your back, but improves when sitting or standing up. It can appear randomly or worsen gradually over time. Experts stress that orthopnea is often a sign of a more serious underlying condition, making it essential to consult a healthcare provider if you experience breathing difficulties.

According to Dr. Rahman, orthopnea typically happens because the heart is struggling. “When the heart weakens, blood backs up into the lungs,” he explains. “The moment you lie flat, gravity no longer helps, and you wake up feeling suffocated, restless, and drenched in sweat.” People experiencing orthopnea may need to sleep with multiple pillows or even sit upright on a couch or chair to breathe comfortably.

What Causes Orthopnea?

Doctors have seen cases of orthopnea is people who already have an underlying medical condition. Such a condition could lead to fluid accumulation around the lungs or make it difficult for the lungs to expand. When lying flat, blood usually naturally redistributed from legs to the lungs, which increases pressure. If you have a healthy heart, it can pump this extra blood efficiently, however, a weak heart cannot, and thus it makes breathing difficult.

What medical conditions could trigger orthopnea?

• Congestive heart failure
• Pulmonary hypertension
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Obesity
• Pulmonary edema
• Severe pneumonia
• Diaphragm paralysis

Why early recognition matters?

Recognizing orthopnea early can be crucial in preventing a full-blown heart attack. While it may seem minor compared to chest pain or extreme fatigue, this symptom signals that the heart is under stress and may need urgent attention.

Dr. Rahman also emphasizes that individuals should not ignore recurring breathlessness when lying flat, as early medical intervention can make a significant difference in outcomes.

Air pollution levels in Delhi rises after the festive celebrations in October, and due to the cold weather, the polluted air looms around us. While all of us are aware of the respiratory illnesses caused by air pollution, a new study has now shown that it could also trigger rheumatoid arthritis.

At the 40th annual conference of the Indian Rheumatology Association (IRACON 2025), which was held at the Yashobhoomi in Dwarka, with leading rheumatologists present there, revealed that there is plenty evidence that shows how toxic air and PM2.5 pollution could fuel a surge in cases of rheumatoid arthritis across Delhi-NCR.

What is rheumatoid arthritis?

It is a chronic autoimmune disease that causes pain, swelling, stiffness, and warmth in the joints and affects mostly small joints of hands and feet in a symmetrical pattern. It occurs when the immune system attacks the body's own tissue, particularly the lining of the joints and leads to inflammation or even damage to cartilage and bones.

What Are The Experts Saying?

The experts have pointed out that autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis was traditionally linked to genetics and immune system dysfunction. However, now it is increasingly being associated with environmental factors too. One of the biggest trigger is air pollution. As per the current estimates, the condition affects 1% of India's adult, and pollution adds fuel to the fire. The experts suggested with pollution being on the rise, the cases are expected to increase too.

"When pollution levels are high, the patients who do well otherwise, their condition also worsen… We are observing a rise in RA cases in patients living in polluted areas with no family history or genetic predisposition to autoimmune disease,” said Dr Uma Kumar, Head of Rheumatology at AIIMS Delhi. She also pointed out that most of these patients are between the age 20 to 50. “This is a public health emergency we can no longer ignore,” she said.

Dr Pulin Gupta, who is a professor and rheumatologist at the Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital said, “What we are witnessing is not just a increase in cases of RA but these cases are also more severe… Reduced green spaces in urban areas are worsening the problem, depriving residents of protective environmental buffers.”

He also said that studies have now shown a strong association between exposure to PM2.5, nitrogen oxides, and ozone with increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis cases. "Living near busy roads, which means constant traffic-related pollution, has also been linked to higher RA risk,” he said.

What Is The Study Experts Are Basing Their Opinions At?

Dr Gupta pointed out the study that was the base of this claim of the relationship between pollution and rheumatoid arthritis. The 'landmark study' is published in the European Medical Journal, 2025, which has provided strong genetic evidence that connect air pollution to autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis.

The study has used two-sample Mendelian randomisation approach and identified significant causal links between common pollutants and immune system dysfunction. It has also highlighted environmental damage as a crucial driver in the rise of these diseases.

Dr Gupta pointed out that Delhi is one of the top 10 most polluted cities in the world and has thus emerged as a hotbed of concern.

“Pollution is rewriting that narrative… turning healthy individuals into patients. The fact that young people with no family history are developing RA should set alarm bells ringing," said Dr Neeraj Jain, Scientific Chairman and Vice Chairman, Department of Rheumatology at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

“European cohorts similarly reported that people living in highly polluted cities had significantly higher morbidity related to autoimmune disorders. These findings mirror what doctors are now observing… with Delhi residents facing a double blow of respiratory distress and autoimmune flare-ups,” he said.