Medical Bulletin 18/August/2025

Despite their natural sugar content, mangoes are rich in fibre, antioxidants like mangiferin, and essential vitamins A, C, and E. These nutrients support heart, gut, and metabolic health, aiding digestion, lowering cholesterol, boosting immunity, and reducing oxidative stress. Mangoes also help regulate blood pressure, triglycerides, and improve nutrient absorption.

However, experts caution against overconsumption. While mango offers many nutritional benefits, it should not be viewed as a cure for diabetes, the study authors stressed. Eating mango in moderation — paired with protein or healthy fats and not on an empty stomach — can help minimize blood sugar spikes. Whole, fresh mangoes are preferred over processed forms, which often lack fibre and contain added sugars.

To summarise, regular consumption of Safeda and Dasheri mangoes instead of bread in breakfast, in a measured and controlled manner as a part of calorie restrictive diet, improved glycemic control, weight, waist circumference, insulin sensitivity and HDL-C in T2D subjects.

Reference: Kehar S, Bhatt SP, Pandey RM, Ansari IA, Gupta V, Misra A. Glycemic, lipid, anthropometric and body composition responses to two Mango varieties versus white bread in people with type 2 diabetes: an 8-week randomised controlled trial. J Diabetes Metab Disord. 2025 Aug 2;24(2):183. doi: 10.1007/s40200-025-01690-w. PMID: 40761695; PMCID: PMC12317951.

New 2025 Hypertension Guidelines Released with Stronger Focus on Brain Health and Early Intervention

The American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC), along with several partner organizations, have released the 2025 guideline for the prevention, detection, evaluation, and management of high blood pressure in adults. This comprehensive update, reflects a shift toward early action, personalization, and the integration of brain health in hypertension care.

Unlike previous guidelines that primarily focused on cardiovascular outcomes, the new recommendations place individuals at the center—emphasizing a blend of lifestyle, science, and accessible tools. The goal is to make managing blood pressure less overwhelming and more empowering.

Prevention remains a cornerstone. A heart-healthy diet, reduced salt intake, regular exercise, and stress management are still key. However, the guideline also calls for earlier medical intervention, when needed, to prevent not just heart disease and stroke, but also kidney problems, type 2 diabetes, and cognitive decline. Even slight increases in blood pressure can chip away at memory and cognition, the document warns, highlighting a new systolic target of under 130 mm Hg to protect brain function.

A key feature is the formal adoption of the PREVENT risk calculator, which estimates 10- and 30-year cardiovascular risk using factors like age, blood pressure, cholesterol, and even ZIP code to reflect social determinants of health.

The guideline also mandates routine urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio testing for all hypertensive patients and expands the use of hormone testing for primary aldosteronism, particularly in those with sleep apnea or advanced hypertension.

Medication choices are now more personalized, especially for individuals with diabetes, obesity, or kidney disease. Combination pills and GLP-1 receptor agonists are among the updated recommendations. For pregnant individuals, the document stresses tighter control, low-dose aspirin in select cases, and continued postpartum monitoring.

From home BP monitoring to dietary changes such as the DASH plan and salt reduction, the new guidelines offer real, actionable strategies. They reflect a clear message: managing blood pressure effectively means taking care of both the heart and the brain.

Reference: https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/the-facts-about-high-blood-pressure/high-bp-top-10

COVID-19 Linked to Higher Risk of Asthma and Sinusitis: Study Finds

A recent study published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology reveals that individuals who have had COVID-19 face an increased risk of developing certain inflammatory airway diseases, including asthma, hay fever, and chronic sinusitis. The comprehensive epidemiological research, led by scientists at Karolinska Institutet, also highlights that vaccination against the SARS-CoV-2 virus appears to reduce this risk.

The international team utilized data from the TriNetX electronic health database in the United States to explore the association between COVID-19 and type-2 inflammatory diseases-a group of chronic conditions characterized by an overactive immune response to allergens or infections. The study compared three groups: 973,794 individuals who had contracted COVID-19, 691,270 people who had been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, and 4,388,409 healthy controls without documented infection or vaccination.

Results showed that people who had experienced COVID-19 had a 66 percent higher risk of developing asthma, a 74 percent higher risk of chronic sinusitis, and a 27 percent higher risk of hay fever compared with healthy controls. However, the study found no increased risk for atopic eczema, a skin condition, or eosinophilic oesophagitis, an inflammation of the esophagus.

Vaccinated individuals demonstrated a contrasting pattern, with a 32 percent lower risk of asthma compared to healthy unvaccinated individuals. Risks of sinusitis and hay fever were also slightly reduced among the vaccinated group. The difference was even more pronounced when comparing those who had COVID-19 with vaccinated individuals—those infected had more than twice the risk of developing asthma or chronic sinusitis, and a 40 percent higher risk of hay fever.

“Our results suggest that COVID-19 can trigger type-2 inflammation in the airways, but not in other organs,” explained Philip Curman, the lead researcher and physician at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Karolinska Institutet. “It is interesting to see that vaccination not only protects against the infection itself, but also appears to provide good protection against certain respiratory complications,” Curman noted.

The study is retrospective, relying on previously collected data, which means causal relationships cannot be definitively established. Additionally, some infections may have gone undiagnosed, particularly those detected through self-testing. Despite these limitations, the findings underscore the potential benefits of vaccination beyond preventing COVID-19 infection, highlighting its role in reducing certain respiratory inflammatory conditions.

Reference: “COVID-19 infection raises respiratory type-2 inflammatory disease risk, whereas vaccination is protective”, Henning Olbrich, Sophie L Preuß, Khalaf Kridin, Gema Hernandez, Diamant Thaçi, Ralf J Ludwig, Philip Curman, The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, online 12 August 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2025.07.030.