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.
Brain health in old age starts taking shape far earlier than most people realize
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In long-term studies where people had their cognitive ability tracked from youth into old age, one finding keeps standing out. “One of the most important factors explaining someone’s cognitive ability at age 70 is their cognitive ability when they were Read More...
What OB-GYNs want every mother to know about how pregnancy changes you
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM With Mother’s Day just behind us, conversations about everything that mothers give are top of mind. However, the biology of pregnancy has something more to say: the exchange runs in both directions, and some of it lasts a lifetime. There is a phenomenon Read More...
What Hanoi learned by tearing down its park fences and opening up to everyone
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In many cities, entering a park is a deliberate act. You adjust your route, find a gate, and cross from public pavement into a space that operates by its own rules, even if those rules are minimal. Hanoi is dismantling that dynamic. Across four major Read More...
The Big Catch-Up vaccinated 18 million children in two years
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Before any vaccine can protect a child, someone has to reach them. Around 12.3 million of the children covered by the Big Catch-Up had never received a single dose of anything: not measles, not polio, not diphtheria. They are known as zero-dose children, and Read More...
Pro parenting tips to spark your children's life-long love for the great outdoors
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In today's digital world, the pull of screens can be difficult to overcome, particularly for kids. However, the dangers of spending too much time indoors are serious. Carlene Fider, Ph.D., a core faculty member at Pacific Oaks College, emphasizes the Read More...
What doctors want you to know about GLP-1s and bone loss
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM A study presented at the 2026 American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons annual meeting found that among nearly 147,000 adults with type 2 diabetes and obesity, GLP-1 use was associated with higher rates of osteoporosis, osteomalacia, and gout. The finding Read More...
The gene behind congenital deafness, and how a single shot is fixing it
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM A girl born without the ability to hear was having everyday conversations with her mother four months after a single injection into her inner ear. She was seven years old. The treatment did not give her a hearing aid or implant. It gave her a gene she had Read More...
Friction-maxxing and the case for a less convenient life
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Something about the phrase “friction-maxxing” struck a nerve. When Kathryn Jezer-Morton, a columnist for New York magazine’s The Cut, published an essay in December 2025 naming the feeling of wanting to push back against frictionless technology, the Read More...
The Bahamas eliminates mother-to-child HIV transmission
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM The Bahamas became the 12th country or territory in the Americas to receive WHO certification for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV, joining a regional cohort that now accounts for more than half of all such certifications worldwide. The Read More...
What an economist says young adults should know about modern dating
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM When Rebekka Grun von Jolk, an economist whose research sits at the intersection of love and behavioral science, spoke with students at Georgetown University recently, she expected a polite Q&A. Instead, when the formal session ended, many students stayed Read More...