By Silviana Birsan, Managing Director of MGD laboratory
Long before the first visible signs of exhaustion appear, biological markers often reveal a deeper imbalance that has already taken hold. Yet one essential factor remains largely overlooked in the professional world: our body. What if performance were measured not only by results, but also by the ability to listen to these early warning signs? Today, science offers simple tools to anticipate, understand and act before the body breaks down.
There is a striking disconnect between what we think we feel and what our body is actually experiencing. In many cases, business leaders and employees continue to operate, make decisions and produce output while already living in a state of advanced biological imbalance. Yet their biological markers tell a very different story. Behind this façade of normality, the indicators are already deteriorating: elevated cortisol, chronic inflammation, hormonal imbalances, nutritional deficiencies. The body is on alert, sometimes for months. Cortisol, often referred to as the “stress hormone,” is one of the most revealing indicators. In the short term, it is useful: it helps us react, mobilise energy and cope. But when it remains elevated over time, it becomes harmful. It disrupts sleep, weakens the immune system, promotes exhaustion and impairs concentration and decision-making. In other words, it has a direct impact on performance. And yet, most people concerned do not immediately realise it. That is the paradox. The mind can keep “holding on,” rationalising and minimising. The body, however, never lies. It adapts, sometimes for a long time. But when it gives way, it is already too late.
Burnout, for example, is never a sudden event. It is a gradual biological process. Long before visible psychological symptoms emerge, the body has already been sending signals. Persistent fatigue, sleep disorders, irritability, a weakened immune system. These warning signs are often trivialised, seen as “normal” phases during demanding periods. In reality, they are valuable indicators.
Science now allows us to objectify these states. Stress is not merely a subjective feeling: it is a measurable reality. Simple analyses can assess cortisol levels, inflammatory markers and metabolic imbalances. They provide a clear reading of the body’s internal state, long before the situation becomes critical. This is where a major preventive lever lies, one that is still widely underused. In a context where companies invest in performance, it is striking that few of them take the biological dimension of their employees into account. Yet a body out of balance cannot sustain lasting performance.
And yet, a simple health check, at a cost of around CHF 200, can now reveal a high, sometimes critical, level of biological stress. By adjusting certain parameters — nutrition, sleep, stress management — and rebalancing the organism, those affected recover energy, clarity and a markedly improved ability to make decisions. Without changing their work environment, their experience has been fundamentally transformed. That raises a key question: why do we wait until the breaking point before acting? We have built the habit of carrying out technical inspections on machines and audits on organisations, yet we remain remarkably passive when it comes to the signals sent by our own bodies. And yet, it is our first performance tool.
Undergoing a biological assessment should not be seen as a medical step reserved for critical situations. It is an act of prevention. It is a way to regain control, to anticipate, to adjust before it is too late.
Such an approach sometimes makes it starkly clear that our environment or working conditions are not always suited to who we really are, and that it is up to us to act to address this, because while the company has a role to play in creating a supportive framework, it cannot replace the responsibility each person has towards themselves. No one can breathe, sleep or eat on our behalf. No one can feel our limits for us. Prevention begins with an intimate decision: to listen to what our body is trying to tell us before it is too late. It is therefore a team effort, where everyone, at their own level, helps create the right conditions so that health becomes something we discuss before the crisis, not after it.
The company can raise awareness, train and adapt. It can encourage a culture in which taking care of oneself is not seen as a sign of weakness, but as a mark of clarity. But at the end of the chain stands the individual: their choices, their ability to say stop, to make adjustments, to seek support. It is in this alliance that true prevention takes shape.
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