Today’s Solutions: November 27, 2024

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.

At-home covid test

US makes at-home Covid-19 tests free to all Americans

With the rise of a potentially-concerning new Covid-19 variant, omicron, and colder months ahead, the US is ramping up health measures to prevent another surge in cases this winter. The White House has recently announced that it will make all at-home rapid tests free. Under the new rules, Read More...

Bumblebee sat on a purple thistle for pollen and nectar.

Bumblebees help solidify the link between microbiome and memory

The term 'microbiome' has been thrown around a lot over the past few years with many studies and health companies finding that a healthy gut balance can decrease your risk of cancer, clear up your skin, and improve mental health, just to name a few. Memory and the microbiome Recently, a study Read More...

Apple cider vinegar on table next to apple

Need a mood boost? Consider drinking apple cider vinegar

Need a mood boost? Consider drinking apple cider vinegar Vinegar’s effect on mood A team of researchers from Arizona State University had already studied the positive effects of drinking red wine vinegar on blood sugar balance, and so decided to continue investigating whether vinegar also plays Read More...

Man biting fingernails

Stop biting your nails for good with these six tips

Twenty to 30 percent of people bite their nails, and while this pesky habit is quite common, it can be harmful to nail and teeth health as well as increase your risk of transferring germs from your fingers to your mouth. People bite their nails for a variety of reasons, and this habit is most Read More...

Scientist in white lab coat pointing at brain signals.

Study: Animals respond to speech the same way as humans

The brain’s response to sound is termed “frequency-following responses”, or FFRs. Clinicians use these as an assessor of hearing and speech capacity, helping them diagnose language disorders such as autism and dyslexia. FFR tests consist of a participant being played different sounds, with Read More...

Two people walking their dog in the streets of Rome

WHO proposes global treaty to better address future pandemics

Unfortunately, as the climate crisis progresses and humans continue to infringe on wild animal habitats, the risk of another global pandemic is growing. To address this, the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) has agreed to form an intergovernmental negotiating body to create a legally-binding Read More...

Cross Bronx Expressway

Community and the environment get a boost with NY freeway transformation

Many urban highways from the 1950s and 1960s were deliberately built through neighborhoods primarily occupied by people of color, effectively walling these families off from economic opportunity and disrupting their sense of community. These same roads also increase the risks of air pollution for Read More...

Yellow lab approaches mushroom in the forest

Online mushroom hotline puts the power of crowdsourcing in poison control

Ninety nine percent of mushrooms are non-toxic, but the one percent which are can have fatal consequences if accidentally ingested. For people with pets or young children, a seemingly harmless patch of fungi in the front yard could be disastrous. Fortunately, a growing Facebook group is here to Read More...

New York skyline as seen from Brooklyn

New York City opens the country’s first safe injection site

Harm reduction strategies are gaining traction as a more effective way to quell the ever-growing opioid crisis. These strategies, like making clean needle exchanges available and decriminalizing drug possession, understand that criminalization alone will not reduce drug abuse, nor does it protect Read More...

Image of fetus in mothers womb.

Study: Covid-19 does not impact fetus brain development

A big source of anxiety during the pandemic came from the unknown impact of COVID-19 on pregnant people and their soon-to-be-born children. It has been observed that other viruses, such as HIV and rubella, can pass from mother to fetus through a process called vertical transmission. A research Read More...