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.
4 science-backed strategies to reduce risk of heart failure
Your heart, a powerhouse organ, performs a monumental task daily, pumping gallons of blood throughout your body. However, if this critical organ fails, it can lead to heart failure, a disorder that affects millions of people in the United States. The heart's function and the dangers of heart Read More...
How West African hairdressers offer mental health support and a pathway to healing
DECEMBER 21ST, 2023 UPDATE: This solution is a Reader's Choice selection of 2023! Here's why one of our fellow optimists nominated this story: "A few days before [this article was published], I was at my favorite salon getting my hair done. As she was conditioning my hair and massaging my scalp Read More...
Breaking the ice: Swedish city combats winter loneliness with "say hello" campaign
In the frozen embrace of Luleå, where daylight dwindles to mere hours, plunging into icy seawater becomes a ritual. For Katariina Yliperttula, a dip before work is about more than braving the cold—it’s an invigorating thrill. "It’s like a happiness rush afterwards," she says, recounting her Read More...
Irish town's Smartphone ban offers blueprint for digital balance and kid's mental health
The daily quandary of when to introduce smartphones to tweens resonates with parents worldwide. Greystones, County Wicklow, in Ireland, however, didn't just grapple with this challenge individually but united to create a town-wide ‘no-smartphone code.’ The collaborative endeavor aims to Read More...
Cancer detection breakthrough revealed via butterfly-inspired imaging
In the world of sensory perception, other creatures frequently outperform humans. A research team has created an imaging sensor that looks into the elusive ultraviolet (UV) spectrum by drawing inspiration from the Papilio xuthus butterfly's sophisticated visual system. This groundbreaking method, Read More...
Advancements in AI improve prognosis and treatment of heart attacks
A new study conducted by the University of Oxford finds that artificial intelligence (AI) has the capacity to predict an individual's risk of having a heart attack up to a decade in advance. This innovation not only has the potential to save thousands of lives, but it also has the potential to Read More...
Study shows children of gay dads thrive
Researchers dug into the lives of families with gay fathers in a landmark study published in the journal Family Process, challenging prevalent preconceptions and shedding light on the resilience and success of these family dynamics. Contrary to some belief, children born to homosexual couples Read More...
Parental leave revolution: South Africa's landmark decision sets new standards
South Africa plans to pioneer shared parental leave, making it the first country in Africa to implement this provision. The country's highest court recently declared that both parents had the right to time off following the birth or adoption of a child, allowing them to determine how to divide a Read More...
New York surgeons celebrate completion of first whole-eye transplant
Surgeons in New York smashed the frontiers of medical possibility by executing the world's first whole-eye transplant. Though the patient, Aaron James, has yet to regain sight, the surgical achievement is being lauded for ushering in a new era in ocular research. A visionary procedure The unusual Read More...
Extra-long films are on the rise: here's why the intermission should be reinstated
As "Barbenheimer" (the fun portmanteau of Barbie and Oppenheimer) took the world by storm earlier this year, it illustrated the growing difficulty of sustaining long movie runs. With Oppenheimer clocking in at a whopping three hours, it became clear that we needed a way to deal with epic-length Read More...