A significant development as of 2026 is the formalization of Ayurveda Aahar—a category of food products regulated jointly by the FSSAI and the Ministry of Ayush.

Unlike therapeutic drugs, these are "functional foods" intended for daily health maintenance. They include:

• Health Drinks and Powders: Infused with herbs like Shatavari or Arjuna for general wellness.

• Nutraceuticals: Supplements formulated based on Ayurvedic dietary principles (Pathya) to support immunity and digestion.

• Labeling Standards: Every such product must carry the "Ayurveda Aahar" logo, signifying it contains ingredients listed in recognized Ayurvedic texts and meets food safety standards.

In the landscape of cardiovascular medicine, ACE inhibitors are often compared to Angiotensin Receptor Blockers. Both types of drugs target the same hormonal system, but they do so at different points in the process. While ACE inhibitors stop the production of the harmful hormone, the blockers allow the hormone to be made but prevent it from "docking" with its receptors on the blood vessels.

The primary reason a doctor might switch a patient from an inhibitor to a blocker is the development of a persistent dry cough. Because the inhibitors affect the breakdown of a substance called bradykinin, it can build up in the lungs and trigger a tickle in the throat. The blockers do not have this effect on bradykinin, so they do not cause the cough. However, many experts still prefer starting with an ACE inhibitor because they have a longer and more extensive history of proven success…

In 2026, a top-tier Clinical Reference Laboratory is almost entirely autonomous. The era of manual pipetting has been replaced by Total Lab Automation (TLA) tracks that snake through the facility.

• Autonomous Specimen Management: From the moment a vial arrives, it is handled by robotic "track" systems that verify the patient identity, check the sample quality (volume and hemolysis), and route it to the correct analyzer without human touch.

• Cold-Chain Archiving: Once testing is complete, samples are automatically moved to a refrigerated storage system. If a doctor orders an additional test days later, a robotic arm retrieves the vial from the "library" and returns it to the testing track.

• Cobots (Collaborative Robots): In 2026, human scientists work alongside "cobots" that perform repetitive, high-risk tasks like handling infectious pathogens or uncapping hundreds of tubes per hour, reducing the risk of laboratory-acquired infections and repetitive strain injuries.

Because ALGS varies so much—even between family members with the same mutation—doctors use a "point system" for diagnosis. In 2026, a diagnosis is typically confirmed if a patient has three out of the five major clinical features:

1. Liver Disease: Cholestasis and bile duct paucity.

2. Heart Disease: Specifically pulmonary artery narrowing.

3. Skeletal Anomalies: Butterfly vertebrae.

4. Eye Findings: Posterior embryotoxon.