Global Wellness Institute

Next May’s important Venice Architecture Biennale, whose theme is “Freespace,” will go beyond the visual aspects of architecture to focus on its human impact: meaningful public spaces and architecture’s role in nurturing daily life.

The GWI has just launched a Digital Wellness Initiative, which will bring together leaders from wellness, healthcare, technology, government, and education to serve as a think tank evaluating research and advocating for policy on the healthy use of technology – so that we have the right guidelines that allow us to maintain our non-digital humanity in the age of technology. The initiative chair is Jeremy McCarthy, group director of Spa & Wellness, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group

Over the past years, we’ve analysed the negative impact that the trifecta of “security concerns + political instability + terrorism threats” have had on diverse travel/wellness markets. But a look at countries like the UK and Turkey show that there is nothing “inevitable” about that trifecta, with some new, positive data indicating that it can be overcome.

A wave of high-tech start-ups are now tackling the inevitability of aging by harnessing the power of predictive analytics through in-depth analysis of an individual’s genetics, physiology and psychology. The promise: this revolutionary, “precision” approach to medicine/prevention will become normal standard of care. But for now, it’s the province of elites…

British researchers have found that less sleep leads to higher body mass index, higher insulin resistance, and higher glucose readings for children – all key risk factors for Type 2 diabetes. The lead author noted that, “for children, the more sleep the better — there is no threshold.”