Author: Sameed Chaudhary

Misri is one of those ingredients that sits quietly in almost every Pakistani kitchen, often tucked next to the saunf in a small steel bowl. Most people know it as the sweet crystal you chew after a heavy meal, but its traditional uses go well beyond a mouth freshener. In Unani and Ayurvedic medicine, misri has been used for centuries to soothe the throat, support digestion, and cool the body during summer heat. In Pakistani households, a common practice is to mix misri with saunf (fennel seeds) and serve it after lunch or dinner. It’s also dissolved in warm doodh…

Vitamin D3 deficiency is quietly common across Pakistan, and the numbers are striking. The National Nutrition Survey 2018 found that 54% of women of reproductive age in Pakistan are vitamin D deficient, and a study published in BMC Women’s Health found that 57% of women in Karachi had deficient levels despite living in one of the sunniest cities in the world. The paradox is real: abundant sunshine, yet chronically low vitamin D. The reason is not just sun avoidance. Most Pakistanis eat a diet built around roti, dal, chawal, and sabzi, which are nutritious staples but naturally low in vitamin…

Almost every Pakistani household has heard it at least once: “Machli ke baad doodh mat peena — phulbehri ho jaayegi.” The warning gets passed from grandmothers to mothers to children, repeated so often that most people accept it without question. It’s one of those beliefs that feels too specific and too old to be wrong. The thing is, it is wrong. Or at least, the part about vitiligo is. The science on this is clear, and it has been for years. What’s less clear to most people is why the myth exists, what the body actually does when you combine…

Stomach infections are one of the most common reasons people visit a general physician in Pakistan, especially during the summer months when contaminated water and street food are everywhere. Metronidazole, sold widely under the brand name Flagyl, is one of the most frequently prescribed antibiotics for gut-related infections across Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad. Yet many Pakistanis buy it over the counter without a prescription, sometimes for the wrong type of infection entirely. Understanding what this medicine actually does, and when it genuinely helps, can save you from a failed treatment course or an avoidable side effect. Amebiasis and giardiasis, two…

Mitha fruit is one of those seasonal staples that most Pakistani households know by feel and smell long before they know its English name. You’ll spot it piled high at fruit stalls in Lahore’s Liberty Market or Karachi’s Empress Market from around August to November, looking like an undersized, slightly flattened orange with a pale green skin. Vendors squeeze it fresh on the spot, and the juice disappears fast on a hot day. What makes meetha fruit interesting is a small quirk in its name. “Meetha” means sweet in Urdu, yet the fruit itself is only mildly sweet and turns…

Muscle pain from a pulled back, a stiff neck after long hours at a desk, or a sprain from an uneven road — these are complaints that general physicians across Pakistan hear every day. One of the most commonly prescribed combinations for short-term relief is orphenadrine with paracetamol, sold under brand names like Nuberol, Wilgesic, Duragesic, and Norgesic at pharmacies from Karachi to Peshawar. The combination works because the two ingredients address muscle pain from different angles at the same time. Paracetamol reduces pain signals, while orphenadrine targets the muscle tension itself. Understanding how they work together, what the correct…

If you are in crisis right now If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, go to your nearest emergency department or call 1122 (Rescue Pakistan). Suicidal thoughts are something many people in Pakistan carry quietly, often for months or years, without telling anyone. The shame attached to mental health struggles in our culture makes it hard to speak up. But staying silent doesn’t make the thoughts go away. A 2026 study published in Health and Social Care in the Community surveyed over 5,000 Pakistanis and found that nearly 46% had experienced suicidal thoughts at some point in…

Multan earns its nickname — the City of Saints and Sun — honestly. From May through August, temperatures regularly cross 46°C, and the combination of scorching UV rays, low humidity, and frequent dust storms creates a skin environment unlike anywhere else in Pakistan. Karachi’s problem is humidity; Multan’s is relentless dry heat layered with fine particulate dust that strips the skin’s protective barrier before noon. Residents who commute on foot or by motorbike, or who work outdoors, often notice skin changes within weeks of summer starting: a rough, tight feeling across the cheeks, dark patches around the forehead, and a…

Tap water in Karachi has a reputation that most residents know well. The pipelines are old, the sewage system leaks into supply lines in dozens of neighbourhoods, and the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation’s filtration plants have been running under capacity for years. What comes out of the tap is not always what you’d call safe. The consequences show up in hospitals every summer. Around 1,500 gastroenteritis patients are reported daily at Civil Hospital Karachi during peak contamination periods, with experts pointing to contaminated water as a key driver. According to the Pakistan National Conservation Strategy report, over 40 per…

Gout is one of those conditions that Pakistani patients tend to dismiss as “just joint pain” until a flare hits at 2 a.m. and the big toe feels like it is on fire. The pain comes from uric acid crystals, sharp needle-like deposits that form inside joints when blood uric acid stays too high for too long. A 2019 cross-sectional study conducted across out-patient clinics in Karachi, published in PubMed Central, found that roughly 30 out of every 100 adults tested had elevated serum uric acid levels. Men were affected nearly twice as often as women. This is not a…