In life, one of the first things you are taught is how to take care of a wound. Even if you are not hurt, learning first aid is important as you can be prepared for the worst when the situation arises. Often before a game, people are prepped with medication to make the process smoother. But can you apply the same logic in healing from surgery? Sometimes people ‘pre-game’ certain things like, they eat fever medication before the fever reaches its peak and nip it in the bud. Sports people warm-up before a game to make sure their body is in game mode, even before the game starts. Similarly, we have prehab or prehabilitation to help your body recover better.

Prehab is like getting your body ready for a big event, like a sports game or a race. In this case, the big event is surgery. It's about doing things before your surgery to help you recover faster and easier. Instead of just thinking about getting better after surgery, prehab is about making your body strong and healthy before you go under the knife. This might mean changing what you eat, exercising more, and even getting more support from friends and family. The goal is to make your body as tough as possible so it can handle the surgery better and heal quickly. It's like training for a marathon – you wouldn't just show up on race day without practicing!

What Did the Study Show?

A recent study published in the BMJ researchers looked at lots of different studies about prehab, including almost 16,000 patients. The researchers found that people who exercised regularly before their surgery had a much lower chance of having problems compared to people who didn't exercise. People who ate healthily had a lower risk too, and the people who did both exercise and ate well, and had good social support had the lowest risk of all. The study also showed that prehab could help people leave the hospital a day or two earlier. While the study had some limitations, like some of the studies only looked at one hospital, the results are really promising and suggest that prehab can be a big help for people having surgery.

How Does Prehab Help?

Prehab helps by making you healthier overall before your surgery. This can involve a few important things. Regular exercise makes your heart stronger, builds your muscles, and gives you more energy. Eating healthy foods gives your body the good stuff it needs to work well and heal. And having people who care about you and support you can make you feel less stressed and more positive, which also helps you recover. By doing these things before surgery, you can lower your chances of having problems and might even be able to leave the hospital sooner. It's all about giving your body the best chance to get better quickly.

Making Your Own Prehab Plans

The best prehab plan is one that's made just for you. You need to talk to your doctor and other people on your healthcare team to get their advice. They know what kind of surgery you're having, what your health is like, and other important things. Your prehab plan might include changes to your diet, like eating more of certain foods, and an exercise plan.

While the big study looked at lots of different kinds of surgeries, other studies have looked at specific surgeries and types of people. For example, a study published in the JAMA network showed that prehab is really good for people having bone and joint surgery, helping them move better, feel better, and get stronger. Other studies have found that prehab helps people with certain kinds of cancer surgery recover faster. But one study that looked at older adults found that prehab, while helpful, didn't make a huge difference in muscle strength. This means it's really important to have a prehab plan that's right for you.

A new analysis has revealed alarming disparities in lung health across the United States, placing a spotlight on states where breathing may be more dangerous than elsewhere. From poor air quality to high smoking rates and weak anti-smoking policies, the report, conducted by Opera Beds using data from the American Lung Association, EPA, and other sources, paints a concerning picture—particularly for residents in the Midwest and South.

According to the report, Indiana ranks as the worst state for lung health, followed closely by Ohio and Alaska. Meanwhile, Colorado and Hawaii top the list as the healthiest places for your lungs. So, what’s driving these differences? And what can be done to protect our lungs—no matter where we live?

Why Lung Health Is a Critical Concern?

Lung health isn’t just about breathing a little easier—it’s tied to survival. Millions of Americans suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, and lung cancer, with respiratory illnesses killing thousands every year. Lung disease doesn’t always show symptoms early on, and by the time it does, it can be deadly. That’s why public health experts stress the importance of early prevention—and why where you live might matter more than you think. Opera Beds compiled its rankings using multiple factors that influence lung health:

• Smoking prevalence
• State-wide smokefree air policies
• Ambient air pollution levels (PM2.5)
• Climate factors like temperature and humidity

The final scores ranged from 4.04 to 9.11 out of 10.

The 10 Worst US States for Lung Health

Following Indiana were:

Ohio (4.72)

Alaska (4.79)

Pennsylvania

Michigan

Nevada

Tennessee

Louisiana

Mississippi

Kentucky

These states tend to have a combination of lax tobacco laws, higher-than-average pollution levels, or climates that exacerbate respiratory illness. Alaska, for instance, faces unique challenges from wildfire smoke and extreme seasonal fluctuations, while states like Nevada struggle with dry air and particulate pollution from desert regions.

The Healthiest US States for Lungs

At the other end of the spectrum, Colorado and Hawaii each earned a top score of 9.11, thanks to low smoking rates, strong public health protections, and generally cleaner air.

“According to our data, the West Coast is the best place to live in the U.S. in terms of lung health,” Opera Beds noted. “Six of the top 10 states are located on the western side of the country... suggesting that those on the West Coast may be less likely to develop respiratory conditions like COPD.”

Other top-performers included New Mexico, Washington, Oregon, and Vermont, with many of these states also benefiting from investments in clean energy, stricter smoking laws, and higher public awareness about air quality.

Interestingly, California presents a mixed picture. Despite facing high levels of air pollution in urban hubs like Los Angeles and the Central Valley, it still made the higher end of the ranking. Thanks to comprehensive tobacco control policies, strong public health infrastructure, and efforts to reduce vehicle emissions.

This suggests that policy intervention can significantly offset environmental risk factors—something other states should take note of.

What You Can Do To Protect Your Lungs?

Even if you live in a high-risk state, there are steps you can take to guard your lung health:

1. Quit Smoking (Or Don’t Start)

Cigarette smoking is still the number one preventable cause of lung disease and cancer. Smoking inflames and narrows airways, destroys lung tissue, and can trigger chronic conditions like emphysema and bronchitis.

2. Get Regular Lung Checkups

Don't wait for a serious cough to get evaluated. Regular checkups help detect early signs of lung problems. Ask your provider to monitor your breathing, especially if you have a history of smoking or environmental exposure.

3. Stay Physically Active

Exercise improves your lung capacity and helps oxygen circulate more efficiently. Brisk walking, swimming, or even light aerobic activity can support long-term lung function.

4. Limit Indoor Pollutants

You might not realize it, but indoor air can be more polluted than what’s outside. Reduce your exposure by using air filters, ventilating well, and avoiding products with harsh chemicals or artificial fragrances.

Be aware of mold, radon, and secondhand smoke—major triggers for respiratory disease.

5. Watch Outdoor Air Quality

On days when pollution levels spike, especially in summer, limit time outdoors—particularly near roads. Use resources like AirNow.gov to check your area’s daily air quality index (AQI).

This isn’t just about red states or blue states. It’s about air, policies, and health outcomes that affect every breath we take.

The American workforce is experiencing a deep-seeded psychological challenge in 2025. Close to 46% of U.S. employees now indicate that they worry about getting laid off in the next year. This all-encompassing fear is not a temporary worry—it's changing the way Americans think about their work, careers, and even their mental well-being.

In a year marked by economic volatility, layoff anxiety is rapidly becoming a public mental health crisis in the United States. According to a new report by Indeed’s Hiring Lab and Harris Poll. With more than 700,000 job cuts announced in just the first five months of 2025—an alarming 80% increase from the same period in 2024—it's no surprise that job security feels like a luxury.

And behind the statistics, a more profound narrative exists: one of hustle culture, financial insecurity, and end-of-every-day stress converging—driving millions to the brink of burnout.

Silent Impact of Layoff Anxiety on Mental Health

Layoff fear isn't merely about dreading losing a job—it seeps into all areas of an individual's existence. It generates a buzz of constant stress that never disappears, you're always anxious. You're working extra hours, not necessarily because you want to be more efficient, but simply in order to be irreplaceable.

This toxic cycle, breeds mental fatigue, emotional disengagement, and tension-filled relationships, both on and off the job. Employees are working harder, putting in more overtime, and neglecting their own health—hoping only to make it through the next round of slashes.

Symptoms of layoff fear are common:

• Inability to concentrate, even on mundane tasks
• Increased irritability or mood swings
• Insomnia or excessive fatigue
• Working excessively to seem indispensable
• Withdrawing from coworkers or loved ones

This chronic stress does not stay in the office. It filters into personal relationships, interferes with sleep, and compromises overall quality of life.

The U.S. job market at first glance seems solid. Unemployment remains at 4.2%, and the nation gained 139,000 new jobs in May. Behind the headline numbers, however, employee morale has tanked.

In accordance with Glassdoor's data, enthusiasm among employees has sunk to a 2016 low, with only 45.1% of employees having confidence in their organization's six-month prognosis as of April 2025. That's hardly an improvement from the all-time low of 44.4% in February.

These numbers reveal a workforce that's fearful, uncertain, and hesitant to believe in long-term stability—when, technically, jobs still remain.

Survival Over Ambition

Maybe the most revealing change is in how employees are managing their careers. Half of all professionals polled, per Indeed's Hiring Lab and Harris Poll, are remaining in jobs they hate—not because they are satisfied or loyal, but because they are afraid of being the "last in, first out" when layoffs happen.

Is Hustle Culture Driving the Mental health Crisis?

America's historical love affair with productivity and "grind" culture could be fueling the layoff anxiety epidemic.

Hustle culture is centered on the constant striving—working more hours, skipping breaks, and foregoing personal time—all predicated on the assumption that hard work equals security. But in an environment where large-scale layoffs are determined by quarterly earnings calls, that does not hold.

Wilding contends that hustle culture generates an illusion of control. "People believe that if they work harder, they'll be able to stay employed. But working too much results in burnout, which will actually make you less efficient and more at risk.

In reality, employees are burning out for payoffs that never materialize—and sabotaging their own well-being in the process. A fearful workforce will be less innovative, less cooperative, and less committed to the firm's future.

What Workers Can Do to Take Back Control?

Under these conditions of uncertainty, the old career ladder seems more like a moving goal. As nearly half of American workers worry about being laid off, the formula for career success is shifting. For most, security trumps quick promotions or ideal job desires. The dilemma for workers and employers alike is to evolve with this new reality—to balance stability needs with growth, meaning, and happiness. But experts urge workers to make the transition from fear to flexibility. Here's how experts can safeguard their mental well-being and career prospects:

Upskill strategically: Prioritize in-demand, transferable skills.

Develop a personal brand: Networking and online presence are more important than ever.

Look at side projects: Passion projects can lead to opportunities while delivering meaning.

Establish boundaries: Working around the clock isn't the solution—rest is a sign of resilience.

With nearly half of the U.S. workforce suffering from layoff anxiety, we’re witnessing more than an economic trend—we’re watching a cultural shift unfold. The American Dream of climbing the career ladder through relentless hustle is being questioned, even rejected.

When a sharp, stabbing stomach pain hit 39-year-old Krystal Maeyke, she attributed it to an allergy or working too hard as a mom. Active, healthy, and fit, the mother of one did not think of herself as vulnerable to cancer—until symptoms could no longer be denied.

Three months after that, Maeyke was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic bowel cancer, a fact that put her world into disarray and is now a warning to young adults around the world: cancer doesn't care how fit or healthy you look or feel. Even though she was "super healthy and fit," Krystal's experience is a wake-up call that cancer doesn't discriminate on the basis of age, fitness, or family history. Her experience, honestly filmed on TikTok, is now prompting tens of thousands to see and respond to the tricky, much-misunderstood signs of bowel cancer.

Krystal's nightmare started with what she thought were harmless symptoms—sharp, stabbing pains in the lower abdomen. Similar to many, she credited them to an assumed food allergy or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), particularly given that she was otherwise healthy and had no history of cancer in her family. For three months, she dismissed the discomfort as a result of the demands of motherhood and an active lifestyle. But the symptoms didn't end there. Krystal remembers having:

Recurring, inexplicable night sweats: So bad that she would wake up soaked, having to change clothes and sheets several times throughout the night.

Chronic fatigue: She was exhausted all day, all the time, but wrote it off as the unavoidable exhaustion of being a working mom.

Loss of appetite and abnormal bowel habits: She experienced changes in digestion, but attributed them to diet or stress.

General malaise: A sense of illness that she couldn't put her finger on.

These signs, she later discovered, were the classic prodrome of bowel cancer. But since they were mild, non-specific, and readily explainable by less serious causes, Krystal—like many others—dismissed them until the pain was excruciating.

"I was experiencing stabbing pains, very fatigued, night sweats, loss of appetite, spastic bowel movements, and just off in general," she explained in an open TikTok video chronicling her diagnosis. Like many others, she wrote it off as stress, a busy life, and maybe food intolerance.

She had never thought that these symptoms might be indicative of something potentially deadly.

Some evenings I would wake up sweating and need to change my clothes and bedding. But it was summer, and I had the air conditioner on, so I figured the room wasn't cold enough.

The turning point came when Krystal’s pain reached an intensity she could no longer manage. Living in the remote Australian desert town of Yulara, she was airlifted 280 miles by the Royal Flying Doctors Service to Alice Springs Hospital. There, a battery of tests revealed the unthinkable: stage four metastatic bowel cancer. The cancer had spread beyond her bowel to her abdomen, liver, and ovaries.

Krystal remembers the incident clearly, "I was awoken later that night by a doctor whose words I will never forget. 'Krystal, I've got bad news… You have cancer.' The gravity of those words, coupled with my question of 'How do you know?' and the doctor's reply, 'It's everywhere,' shook me to my core."

What is Advanced Bowel Cancer?

Stage four, or metastatic, colorectal cancer implies the disease has invaded distant organs. The Cleveland Clinic describes this as the most advanced and hardest-to-treat stage. Krystal's case is not unusual: many patients, particularly younger ones, are diagnosed late because early signs are indistinct or mistaken for less severe conditions.

Krystal's case highlights an important reality: bowel cancer can develop and spread viciously, even for those who look reasonably healthy. She experienced every stabbing pain as the tumour developed, almost clogging her bowels, and subsequently noticed a lump she was aware of was not an innocent lymph node, but a tumour.

I was awakened by a doctor whose words I'll never forget," she said. "'Krystal, I've got bad news… You have cancer.' When I asked him how he knew, he said, 'It's everywhere.'

Stage 4 bowel cancer, or metastatic colorectal cancer, is when the cancer has spread to other parts of the body away from the colon or rectum—usually to the liver, lungs, or ovaries. In Krystal's situation, tumors were located throughout her abdomen, liver, ovaries, and bowel. She suspects the constant stabbing pains were because tumors were compressing the important organs and nerves.

"I could feel each stabbing pain," she said. "The tumor was halfways blocking my bowels. I could feel the lump, which they informed me could be merely a lymph node—it was the tumor. And then I could feel it reach my ovaries."

Why Are Younger People at Risk?

A recent study by Cancer Research UK and international studies have pointed to a concerning trend: bowel cancer diagnoses are increasing among individuals under the age of 50. For 27 of 50 countries, cases of early-onset have grown, with young adults diagnosed 23% more in some age brackets. The recent passing of social media personality Tanner Martin at the age of 30 has further focused attention on this concerning trend.

What is perhaps most shocking about Maeyke's story is how many of her symptoms are so typical, non-threatening complaints—tiredness, irregular bowel movements, night sweats that occur with the rise in temperature. With no known family history of cancer, exercising regularly and having a well-balanced diet, she had every reason to assume she was healthy.

But as Krystal's case highlights, bowel cancer is striking younger and younger adults, and the initial symptoms are usually not recognized or misdiagnosed.

Krystal's case is an impassioned plea to act. If you have persistent, unexplained symptoms—most importantly, abdominal pain, night sweats, or alteration in bowel habits—do not brush them aside. Seek advice from a doctor and push for extensive testing if symptoms remain.

Early diagnosis is key: although only slightly more than half of bowel cancer sufferers live 10 years after diagnosis, prognosis is so much better if the disease is diagnosed early. Screening and knowing the symptoms can help save lives.

In the United States, the second most common cause of cancer mortality, colorectal cancer, has seen its diagnoses in people below 50 years surge dramatically over the past few years. Scientists are yet to figure out why—citing processed food, inactive lifestyles, environmental pollutants, and even microplastic exposure as probable culprits.

The passing of 30-year-old influencer Tanner Martin from colon cancer last year pushed the issue further to the forefront, prompting discussions around early screening and education.

Recognising Symptoms of Bowel Cancer

The symptoms of bowel cancer may be challenging to identify in its early stages, Cancer Research UK and the Cleveland Clinic say. Some common symptoms include:

• Rectal bleeding or blood in the stool
• Changes in bowel movements (constipation or diarrhea)
• Fatigue or shortness of breath
• Abdominal pain or bloating
• Unexplained weight loss
• A lump in the abdomen

Yet, many patients show no symptoms until the cancer has already progressed—underscoring the need for vigilance and proactive screening.

Since her diagnosis, Krystal has undergone multiple rounds of chemotherapy and shares her cancer journey with over 50,000 TikTok followers, aiming to raise awareness and offer support to others facing similar battles.

One of her biggest worries, she says, isn't the disease itself—but the psychological cost on her young son, Maison.

"He longs for my warmth, my guidance, and my love—a love that cancer is stealing away," she wrote in a heartbreaking post.

But she's still dedicated to raising awareness. Her tip: "Take symptoms seriously. Night sweats, pain, fatigue—don't ignore them. Trust your instincts. Early detection might just save your life."