Health
Finding good health news amidst a pandemic can be quite daunting. That’s not the case with The Optimist Daily, where positive news is in high supply. Our Health section covers the latest good news from the health sector, featuring solutions ranging from mental and physical health to immunity, nutrition, and cutting edge medical research.
Maternal RSV vaccine cuts newborn ICU admissions in half
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Good news! In the UK, only 63 infants were admitted to intensive care with RSV infection last winter, which is down from 131 the year before. Same 20 hospitals, same surveillance system. The UK Health Security Agency published its first full-year results on Read More...
How to help an anxious kid through back-to-school season
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM If you've ever driven away from school while your kid was still crying at the door, you know the horrible feeling. The half-formed urge to turn the car around. The uncertainty about whether going back would help or just make it worse. The guilt riding shotgun Read More...
Are algae oil supplements worth taking? Here's the evidence
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM There's a pattern in the supplement industry that tends to repeat itself. Researchers find that people who eat foods rich in a particular nutrient have better health outcomes. Companies extract that nutrient, put it in a capsule, and start making promises. Read More...
Rage workouts don't calm you down, research finds. Here's what does.
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Slamming tires with a sledgehammer, pummeling a punching bag, running yourself into the ground when you're furious: the premise behind rage workouts is that intense physical exertion gives anger somewhere to go. A 2024 review of 154 studies covering more than Read More...
Why the poo taboo has held back a killer disease, and what's changing
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM There is a disease that kills more than one million people a year, nearly half of them children under five, and it rarely breaks through in global health coverage. Researchers have a name for that gap: the "poo taboo." People, including journalists and Read More...
5 phrases to teach kids that will serve them for life
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM You spend the first few years of your kid's life repeating words back to them, hoping one will stick. "Mama." "Dada." "Ball." And then suddenly you're coaching them through "please" and "thank you" and "sorry," because those are the words that help life run a Read More...
Beard dandruff remedies dermatologists swear by
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM If you've put real time into growing and grooming your beard, discovering a film of flakes underneath it can feel so unfair. All that trimming, all those oils, and somehow your skin is staging a revolt. Here's the thing though: beard dandruff usually isn't a Read More...
Your Neanderthal genes may be building your muscles
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM People who carry a Neanderthal version of the growth hormone receptor have, on average, 271 additional grams of muscle compared with those who don’t. People who inherited the variant from both parents tend to have more still. The finding comes from a study Read More...
The physical effects of heavy phone use (aka tech neck) and how to address them
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Cervical spine surgeon K. Daniel Riew at Och Spine at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center has started seeing patients in their 20s. That age group rarely appeared in his practice before. Americans now average about seven hours a day on screens, Read More...
Bioengineered gum could expand treatment options for oral cancer patients
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM A bioengineered chewing gum cut HPV levels by 93 percent in oral samples from head and neck cancer patients, in new research from the University of Pennsylvania. The same formulation, when loaded with an antimicrobial peptide called protegrin, brought two Read More...