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.
How parents' phone habits shape their children's, according to new research
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM For years, the conversation about children and screens has been aimed squarely at children. How much time, what content, and at what age? Sweden's public health agency has now turned the question around. This past Monday, the agency issued new guidelines Read More...
Why hamsters run on wheels, according to 30 years of research
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In 2014, researchers placed exercise wheels in two natural outdoor settings and left them there. Wild mice found the wheels and ran on them, sometimes for up to 18 minutes at a stretch, with no training and no food reward. The running continued long after all Read More...
Zebra striping can cut hangovers, with one important catch
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Zebra striping, the practice of alternating each alcoholic drink with a non-alcoholic one, is catching on: 34 percent of UK adults reported trying it in 2025. The strategy does help. Just not quite in the way people think it does. The actual mechanism: total Read More...
A daily pill just doubled survival time for advanced pancreatic cancer
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In a 500-patient trial at American Society of Clinical Oncology's (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago, a daily pill called daraxonrasib doubled average survival time in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. Those on the drug lived for an average of 13.2 Read More...
A new drug just cleared hepatitis B in 1 in 5 patients
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM A clinical trial published May 28 in the New England Journal of Medicine reports that a new drug called bepirovirsen achieved a functional cure in approximately one in five patients with chronic hepatitis B. That number matters. The current standard of Read More...
The protein-stacking strategy that works on any meal or snack
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM If you’ve been trying to eat more protein lately, you’re not alone. Research on its role in preserving muscle and brain health as people age has gotten a lot of attention, and most people who set a daily target quickly realize that one chicken breast at Read More...
Two drug molecules achieve myelin repair in MS disease models
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Every remyelination drug candidate tested in multiple sclerosis research has failed. A doctoral thesis from the University of Helsinki, defended earlier this month, reports two that didn’t. Tapani Koppinen, working in Associate Professor Merja Read More...
The 10-minute habit that helped David Attenborough reach 100 years old
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Sir David Attenborough turned 100 on May 8, and people want to know how he did it. Fair enough. A century is rare. A century of active fieldwork, narration, and travel across every ecosystem on earth is something even rarer. When someone who has spent his Read More...
It's cruise season! Here's how to enjoy it without getting sick
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Even though cruise ships may have a bad rap in the news lately, you may have planned or are still planning a trip on the sea. You’ve looked up the excursions, debated which restaurants to book, and maybe even perused the spa offerings. The health side of Read More...
The case for making prison phone calls free: new data, real results
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM For decades, a phone call home from prison could cost a family several dollars a minute. That wasn’t an oversight. It was the business model. A growing number of state prison systems and county jails have moved to make calls free, arguing that regular Read More...