This Week in Explainers: Can humans ‘catch’ Alzheimer’s disease from one another?

Goodbye January and hello February. This week has been quite eventful.

The Maldives, despite being a small island nation, continues to make big headlines. Its president Mohamed Muizzu, who was sworn in just last November, is clutching to power, as he faces calls of impeachment.

While the United States is gearing up for the 2024 presidential polls, it was the death of Indian-American students that made big news this week. Six desi students have died in the last 30 days, raising questions on safety.

Away from all this, there’s also been big news coming from the health sector. While New York City declared social media as a public health hazard, a study on Alzheimer’s disease has thrown up fascinating insights.

And capping this week was the news of the Pakistan caretaker government preparing for the imminent sale of the loss-making Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), ahead of next week’s elections.

If you have missed out on this, here’s our weekly roundup that covers all the big international news.

1) One of the biggest stories for us this week was the deaths of Indian-American students in the past 30 days. On Thursday, Shreyas Reddy Beniger, a student at the Linder School of Business in Ohio, died, with authorities ruling out foul play. The tragedy comes within weeks of the deaths of five other Indian students — Neel Acharya, Vivek Saini, Akul Dhawan, G Dinesh and Nikesh.

Of these five, the most horrific death was that of Vivek Saini. A resident of Haryana, he died after he was hammered 50 times in Georgia’s Lithonia on 16 January.

In our essay, we explore what’s happening to the American Dream and how safe are desis in the US.

2) He’s come to power only in November 2023, but his tenure has been far from smooth sailing. Who are we talking about? The president of the Maldives, Mohamed Muizzu. This week, the president of the Maldives faced calls for impeachment.

But what led to this situation? On Monday (29 January), trouble began brewing for Muizzu when some of the ruling party MPs expressed interest in working with the opposing Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and Democrats to remove him from office.

In our explainer, we take a closer look at the events that led to this situation and what does it take to impeach a president in the Maldives.

3) For many, 2024 has been called the ‘year of elections’, as several countries across the globe will go to the polls. Among the many is India’s neighbour, Pakistan, which is going to elect a new government next week, scheduled for 8 February. And ahead of these polls came the news that the caretaker government has nearly finalised the sale of its national carrier — Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

But what has led to this situation? How did an airline with the tagline ‘Great People to Fly With’ reach this point? Our explainer charts the demise of the national carrier and why this sale would be challenging.

4) Alzheimer’s disease is a big problem for the world. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) in November 2023 had said that every 3.2 seconds, a new person is added to the more than 55 million Alzheimer’s patients worldwide.

And this week, more startling information emerged about the brain disorder. UK researchers found that in rare medical cases, Alzheimer’s could pass on from a person to person. How is that possible? What did the study find out? Read this and more in our extensive explainer on it and why its findings are significant in the world of medicine.

5) And speaking of mental health and disorders, this week also saw the interesting news of New York City declaring social media as a public health hazard. Mayor Eric Adams called it an “environmental toxin,” saying young people must be protected from “harm” online. He further claimed TikTok, YouTube and Facebook are “fueling a mental health crisis by designing their platforms with addictive and dangerous features.”

This is the first time that an American state has made such a move, highlighting just how dangerous social media can be, especially for young minds.

In our explainer here, we delve into the hazards of social media and how these apps such as Facebook, Instagram, X, Snapchat and others are making children more depressed, and more prone to suicide.

This is it for the week. But if this makes you want to read more of our explainers, here’s where you can find all of them.

PS: If you have travel planned this year, here’s an explainer you can’t miss. Turbulence in the skies is quite a regular feature when you fly. But what happens to your body during this period? Read here and find out before you buckle in for your next flight.