Health

The right GP can make a big difference to how healthy you are and may ultimately save your life.

As well as diagnosing illness, a good GP can draw your attention to problems you never knew mattered, decide if you need certain tests, refer you to the right specialists, monitor your progress, offer reassurance or advice, and keep you out of hospital or limit the care you need there.

If you have a chronic or serious illness, your GP relationship will be especially important.

So what should inform your choice?

The sea of weird and wonderful classes now available has had most people contemplating at least one new talent or skill that they believe will make them more fit, limber or relaxed.

Trampolining, meditation, barre classes and pole dancing are fairly well-established. Various iterations of yoga are joining in, including more unusual formats alongside goats or cats, or encouraging laughter as you hold that downward dog.

But observations and research show this is generally not the case.

Instead, people tend to make choices based on how food tastes. Typically, the more sugar, salt and fat in the food, the more we will like it.

Genetics, experience and environment also influence our perception of food and the consumption choices we make.

Who would have thought silkworms could be used to repair damaged eardrums?

A team with researchers based in Perth and Melbourne is moving towards clinical trials of a device that incorporates silk in an ear implant.

Named "ClearDrum", it looks like a contact lens, but is instead a device on which the patient's cells can grow.

Perth-based surgeon Professor Marcus Atlas said silk was the preferred choice because it was flexible.

I can have the requisite eight hours, no screens, fresh air and dim light and still wake up feeling knackered.

So, when a stranger sees me gazing at breathing apparatus in the local chemist and introduces herself as a 'CPAP disciple', I'm happy to listen.

CPAP stands for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure and it is basically a mask you wear on your face that is powered by a machine which pushes air into your throat to stop your airway closing while you're asleep.

The majority of deaths on screen are violent, bloody, traumatic affairs, with few realistic portrayals of what a death from illness or so-called "natural causes" actually looks like.

Little wonder we have such a fear of death, and especially of being in the presence of it.

It's still a terrifying notion, because most of us have no idea what we will see.

My own curiosity about death led me to write a book on the topic.

In bringing together medical research and personal stories from those who've undergone near-death experiences, I learned a lot.

Chances are you're looking at it right now.

Before you try and deny you're addicted, here are some stats to consider:

Australian men unlock their phones more than anyone in the world - on average 45 to 46 times a day, while for Australian women it is around 42 times.

Those figures have been calculated by AntiSocial, an app developed by Melbourne software company Bugbean, to monitor people's use of social media.

But in case you need one more reason (or 10) to celebrate chocolate, just look to science. Studies of chocolate lovers -- and even some self-proclaimed "chocoholics" -- suggest that it could lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease, help control blood sugar and slash stress, and on and on.

The group had previously advised parents to wait to offer juice until a child reached 6 months old but decided to make the change based on rising rates of obesity and concerns about tooth cavities.

Why would you care anyway…water is water and does the same thing, right? Wrong!

According to Michelle Tempongko Jones, it’s not.

She is a naturopath, herbalist, nutritionist, iridologist, anti-ageing practitioner and wellness coach.

Of course the uses for water remain the same, but not its effect when consumed.

All bottled water have different levels of properties, as well as tap water, depending what area it is from.