Lower back pain is the most prevalent health problem in Switzerland. A large population survey by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office found that 47% of women and 39% of men had suffered from back problems in the preceding four weeks, the highest prevalence of all health conditions surveyed. Globally, according to the Global Burden of Disease study published in The Lancet Rheumatology, lower back pain remains the leading cause of years lived with disability. Switzerland ranks among the three countries with the highest age-standardised prevalence in the world.

The economic cost is substantial. A Swiss cost-of-illness study estimated the direct costs of lower back pain at €2.6 billion and productivity losses at €4.1 billion annually.

Yet for all its prevalence, lower back pain is poorly understood by most people who have it. Many attribute it to a "bad back," aging, or a single event like lifting something heavy. In reality, the strongest modifiable predictor of lower back pain is something most people never think about: the quality of their back muscles.

Pancreatic cancer often progresses undetected for a long time – and is therefore frequently diagnosed late. In Switzerland, around 1,500 people are diagnosed each year. Only about 12% survive five years.

There is no standard screening test. Symptoms blend into everyday discomfort. By the time a diagnosis arrives, the cancer has usually already escaped the pancreas.

That picture is starting to shift. Full-body MRI can now detect pancreatic abnormalities before any symptoms appear, giving people – particularly those with elevated risk – a way to act before the disease takes the upper hand.