As we grow older, there is a more urgent realisation that we must prioritise our health throughout our entire lives. What makes this reality so urgent as time goes on, is that a lot of people do not actually give themselves the time or the capacity to prioritise their health early on in their lives, when are feeling tops. As they age, they begin to feel the signs of wear and tear, and if these signs have gone ignored for too long, health risks begin to show and cracks evolve into fractures. This mentality of, “I am too young to have to worry about that just yet” is precisely what is damaging so many people’s physical fitness levels as they grow older. Ideally, having an awareness of, and dedication to, physical health early on in life is the way to create the building blocks to a wholly healthy self.

Our physical health is something that is increasingly being given more emphasis at time goes on. We are in an era currently that is more digitally-focused than ever before, and as a result everything – including our health – has gone digital to some degree. The majority of our information intake is digital these days, and so health going digital has resulted in a lot more reading of, and awareness of, the importance of taking care of our bodies. From doctor appointments to get treatment for Pruritus Ani instant relief, to mental health days to give ourselves time to mentally realign with our balance, and everything in between, it seems that the focus on health is increasing all the time – as it should.

Becoming a fitter, healthier person does not demand a four-hour workout every day and precise calorie counting 24/7. For some people, this approach works perfectly, but for the vast majority of us, there simply is not enough time in the day to commit to such an intense physical health maintenance schedule. You may be surprised, in fact, just how little it takes to keep yourself physically fit. It can be something as simple as a short run or an hour at the gym, or even a meditation or hot yoga class, and it amounts to all the physical activity your body needs to build itself up and strengthen its physical core. Just half an hour of exercise a day takes up only 2% of your entire day, and it is enough to shift not only your physical fitness but your mental strength as well.

The human body was not designed to sit behind a desk for the majority of the working week. Human beings, by design, by their very nature, were designed for constant movement. Earlier evolutions of Homosapiens were foragers, gatherers, and wanderers. The human body was literally designed to be able to cope with constant movement, and now we have created a society that is so expensive, so expansive, that we must be constantly working to afford the lives we have built for ourselves. Considering this reality, it is more important than ever for us to go out of our way to commit time to our physical fitness. We need to take our bodies off the shelf (or out of the office) to gain back control of our physical (and whole) health.

Artificial Intelligence-enabled machines are taking over the medical world to aid better access and improved medical treatment. The systems reached a crucial point of development where their capabilities oftentimes match the best of the doctors across the globe. When paired with machine learning, they are learning quicker and faster every day.

Almost everything from CT scans, MRIs, angiograms to heart surgeries, the data captured is becoming digital, helping machines to read and learn from them. Artificial intelligence in medicine enables precision medicines and micro-targeting the right cells with the exact proportion of medicine so its impact is greater. The developments also provide room for personalized medicine – while also giving way for intelligent prosthetics.

Sophia, the humanoid artificial intelligence robot, was developed with the aim of creating a better world for the elderly. The robot, holding Saudi Arabian citizenship, was to cater to the personal needs of senior citizens, thus providing them better access to nursing and healthcare.

What’s more, artificial intelligence’s significance does not just stop with day-to-day healthcare. It’s now moved to transform medical research, clinical developments and importantly, fighting cancer. According to the World Health Organization, nearly 40% of deaths through cancer can be mitigated with the right diagnosis and precision medicine.

Artificial intelligence is now powering better data-driven predictions to forecast if the individual will get a certain disease, organize the right screenings and adopt the right diagnostic tests. AI’s scope does not stall here. Researchers at the Carnegie Mellon University have mapped a method to use artificial intelligence to interpret medical images that could impact the way doctors approach diseases and dole out treatments.

The researchers behind the study highlighted that almost 80% of treatment is confirmed through medical imaging. With improved imaging machines, hidden patterns that would have otherwise seemed elusive may emerge. A test run for this finding revealed that it was able to predict if an individual will eventually develop osteoarthritis three years in advance, with an accuracy of almost 86%.

AI-based solutions can also be used to confirm a range of other issues in the body, including the presence of a gallstone in the gallbladder, bile duct blockage and so on. If an infection is identified, the technique can then help guide the surgeon during treatment, in this case, in the laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Artificial Intelligence is indispensable in the identification of anatomical structures during a laparoscopic cholecystectomy surgery. Its ability to gather, analyse and group information in real-time can be instrumental in helping the surgeons make informed decisions, thus minimizing medical errors.

Other than that AI serves as an excellent tool for connecting each piece of data to come up with a solution. Instead of replacing the human intelligence, AI will augment the clinical acumen to unimaginable levels – it is the hybrid.

With massive progress being clocked by artificial intelligence, a lot of complex and time-consuming tasks for doctors can be taken off their plate. Right now, the need of the hour is to accelerate its adoption as a global effort so its benefits cascade to various geographical zones.

We are constantly aware that our health should always be one of our top priorities (if not the top priority). A healthy lifestyle might seem to some like a difficult prospect to nail down. With so much contradictory information circulating always, it can be difficult to proactively know which information is valid and which is not. In Australia, we are lucky in many respects health wise, as we have access to bulk billing doctors and select medical care. These two factors alone give us a much stronger, reliable healthcare system than many other countries.

The one aspect of our health that we seem to struggle with constantly as a nation, however, is what we eat. A healthy diet is actually quite easy once one understands the ins and outs of consumable health and integrated fitness. Scientists have consistently impressed on us that, while exercise is no doubt important to whole health and quality of life, the single biggest impactor on our health is what we put into our bodies. Even so, it is difficult for some to equate what they eat with how they should be eating. There are three main points to nail down when pursuing a healthier diet and lifestyle.

Do one big basics grocery shop a week

It sounds strange, but one of the biggest issues that consumers today have is overspending. Doing a single structured grocery shop during the week allows you to plan your basics while avoiding temptation when picking up the necessities. Some people do not even need to go every week, but for those that do, sticking to a single grocery store visit allows you to avoid walking through the aisles and both picking up more than you need, as well as adding processed, sugar-filled snacks to the cart.

Get your fruit and veggies from an organic market

You could definitely get your fruit and veggies from the supermarket during your grocery store run, but the quality of the produce that you get from farmers’ markets and organic stalls not only is as natural as it gets – and thus healthier for you to consume – but it genuinely tastes better to eat fresh produce than the intake that has been sprayed with chemicals and pulled through the same system that sells you the unhealthy items that, realistically, we should all avoid. Supporting locally run organic farmers and markets not only feeds the local economy, but it ensures that the foods you eat yourself are the best quality for your body.

Spend an afternoon preparing meals

The best thing that you can do is to prepare your meals ahead of time. It does take time, yes, but if you slot it in over the weekend (perhaps on Sunday, before the work week generally begins) it can make up time over the week ahead and ultimately create a healthy habit that will benefit you for years to come. Many people say that their weekends are for chilling out, but if you run Netflix from your laptop as you cook – or better yet, shut off the electronics and just spend some time unplugged either spending time with yourself or with your family or friends or partner – you can be proactive while relaxing. If your weekends are just as busy as your weeks, well…life is always busy. It is about making the time. And your health is worth it.

When you think of the world’s most fruitful industries, you might not immediately think of the mattress industry as one of them. Historically, the selling of mattresses to individuals has been a somewhat humble one, quietly doing its job because a mattress is, in most countries, a necessity. Mattress specialist companies like Forty Winks have worked hard to establish themselves as titans of their industry, and their product lines speak volumes of quality being an integral factor in this business. Population increases are obviously a contributing factor to the increase in mattress sales around the world, but there is a much stronger factor at hand – marketing.

The mattress business is one that has been around for generations, and so it can be argued that the industry was well overdue for a modernisation. The traditional marketing methods that have always proven to work for the industry began to become outdated to the point that they were even turning potential customers away from the brand. For example, paper marketing (flyers, also known as junk mail) frustrate most people or are immediately disregarded and thrown in the recycling bin. A marketing revitalisation was long overdue.

Traditional marketing methods have not necessarily dropped off entirely, but they have definitely taken a back seat to the modern marketing tactics currently in place in the mattress business. The importance of finding the right mattress cannot be overstated. The average person spends a third of their life sleeping, so it only makes sense that it is important to find the mattress that is most comfortable. With this in mind, marketing tactics like social media and even year-long money-back guarantees are bringing in customers by the thousands.

Offering customers such an extensive money-back option for their mattress is appealing for obvious reasons. A mattress is one of the most expensive and important pieces of furniture that you can buy, and it is not always possible to know the perfect fit after even half an hour of going over your options and trying them out at the store. The issue is made twice as hard to decipher when the mattress shopping is for a couple, as it is quite rare that both partners will have a preference or necessity for exactly the same kind of mattress.

Companies that offer a money-back feature that goes hand in hand with their mattress sales effectively create a predetermined bond of trust with customers – if they do not like the mattress at home, they can just bring it back. It generally takes ninety days for your body to get used to a new mattress, so extending the money-back gaurantee to a whole year is a marketing tactic that is a definitive stroke of genius.

The companies that have built their business model and marketing around the concept of perfecting a good night’s sleep are the ones that are flourishing above their competitors today. Using modern marketing techniques like social media advertising and year-long money-back guarantees has put the mattress industry in a state of rapid growth that has proven to be, thus far, unrelenting. The sky is the limit for this industry, and modernising its marketing methods has it floating on a cloud of long-lived success.

There is something to be said about much of the world’s insistence to refuse to acknowledge death as a part of life. It is one of two things that every single living being on Earth has in common. Natural or unexpected, death touches us all. Every species has its rituals when the passing of a loved one occurs. For humans, we hire funeral services and put out funeral notices when we experience a loss and then, slowly and often painfully, the passing of time forces us to begin to move on. The funeral services business is dedicated to ensuring that we process the loss and grieve as fully as possible, to make the transition from here to there as easy as it can feasibly be.

The unfortunate reality is that when someone passes, most of the time there is very little time to say goodbye before grieving and the funeral planning process takes hold. The truth lies in the fact that, even when given all the time in the world to process, loss is never easy nor is it something that anyone can ever fully prepare themselves for. Funeral service professionals are in the business of providing strength, support, and comfort when families and friends are suffering through a loss. This is especially true for losses of life that are difficult to comprehend, because those grieving are struggling to come to terms with the senseless loss while also having to make important decisions that will ultimately go towards the service.

The kind professionals who work for the funeral service business are in this industry for one reason: they want to bring comfort and respect that is needed so strongly during times of such grief.at their core, the people who take on a career in such an important field must be the kind of people who have the unyielding capacity to give their energy and efforts to the needs and wants of people who, realistically, they do not know. It takes a special person to be able to so wholeheartedly give their attention, empathy, and strength to people they have no affiliation with, day in and day out.

Trusting one of the most important times in life to strangers can be difficult, but with the right people helping to guide the reigns, it can be made far easier. In a time when it can be most difficult to accept and process loss, knowing that there are professionals there to take on even the finest details makes the world of difference. Funeral services are a time for remembrance, a time to process and begin to heal. And the people who are paid to handle that process for families are the ones who navigate the often fractured, hazy path to healing. There is much to be said about the power of ritual, and in this case the ritual of holding a funeral (or another kind of service to mark the passing of an individual) is the most powerful tool we have to mark a beloved life.

There are many good reasons to learn critical life-saving techniques, such as CPR, the Heimlich maneuver, and controlling bleeding. No matter who you are or what you do for a living, eventually you could be in the position to save a life—plus, getting certified in a life-saving technique can look great on a resume.

That said, you may not have the time, resources, or motivation to take a formal class on the subject. So is it possible to learn these techniques on your own?

It doesn’t take much to find a website capable of teaching you the basics on some of the most fundamental lifesaving techniques. You can learn the three basic actions for CPR in just a few minutes, and memorize the correct positioning for the Heimlich maneuver after studying a visual diagram for just a few minutes. You can also watch a YouTube video to see a live demonstration of each technique, or several—just so you can see it from multiple angles and with multiple people taking lead.

If you’re attentive and willing to learn, you could feasibly learn the basics in an hour or less (for many life-saving techniques), but is this level of instruction sufficient?

By learning on your own, you’ll miss out on several important elements available in a formal class setting:

• The proper equipment. First, if you’re learning on your own, you probably won’t have the proper equipment. For example, in a live CPR training class, you’ll probably have access to a CPR manikin, but if you’re watching a YouTube video, the best alternative you can probably muster is a body pillow. You also won’t have access to things like defibrillators or breathing apparatuses, which can make it very difficult to properly perform the exercises.
• Hands-on experience. A live class environment also gives you the opportunity for a hands-on experience. You won’t be mimicking the motions on your own, alone in your living room; you’ll be putting your hands on a manikin and trying the techniques out. This is very important for two reasons. First, it prepares you psychologically for the need to put your hands on another person. Second, it introduces you to potential misconceptions you might have about the technique after simply watching it unfold on the screen.
• Real-time feedback. Even more importantly, a formal class setting is going to have a fully trained, experienced instructor to provide you guidance and real-time feedback. You may think you’re doing the technique correctly, but a live instructor may notice that your hands are placed incorrectly, or that you’re using the wrong rhythm. Only with the oversight and corrective potential of a real authority can you be confident you’re doing things right.
• Individual guidance. Not everybody learns the same way. A demonstration video that works for a few million people might not make sense to you. But with an experienced instructor in a live environment, you can ask questions, request different types of explanations, and hopefully, get an alternative lesson that makes more sense to you.
• The latest standards. There’s no guarantee that the videos you’re watching are completely up to date, which is an important consideration, since the rules and guidelines for most lifesaving techniques are prone to near-constant changes. For example, the Red Cross has recently revised its recommendations for the Heimlich maneuver—previously thought to be the gold standard for treating a choking victim. A formal class setting will all but guarantee you’ll be able to learn from the latest guidelines.
• The social element. In a formal class, you’ll probably be working with multiple other students (who are equally inexperienced). This social setting could make it more comfortable and easier for you to learn new things and accomplish your goals—and you could even make new contacts in the process.
• For most life-saving techniques, the only way to get an official certification is to take a formal class; you can’t simply do the coursework online and file an application to be certified. Without that formal certification, you won’t be able to list your lifesaving “skills” on a resume.

If you’re serious about learning a new lifesaving technique, it’s in your best interest to pursue formal education in a structured class. There are too many advantages to make self-learning a viable alternative. That said, if you’re just interested in spending a few extra minutes to a few hours of your own time to learn the basics, there aren’t many downsides to familiarizing yourself with the basics; incorrect techniques do come with serious risks, but in extreme conditions, it may be worth taking those risks to save a person’s life. Evaluate your priorities, and choose your learning path accordingly.