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.
Blood pressure medication linked to increased risk of falls
The algebra of risk vs. reward may not pay off for people over the age of 70 who take antihypertensive drugs to lower their blood pressure. While these drugs reduce the risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke, this benefit is balanced out by an increased risk of serious injury from Read More...
Cancer-fighting compound in figs and celery targets aggressive breast tumors
It is rare for a natural molecule to garner the attention of medical researchers for two completely different cancer-fighting properties, but the compound psoralen has done just that. Found in figs, celery and other fruits and vegetables, psoralen is already used to treat lymphoma—as well as skin Read More...
Vitamin C really can fight cancer
First popularized by the Nobel Prize-winning chemist Linus Pauling, vitamin C has long been used by alternative health practitioners to support cancer patients. But the practice has been met with skepticism by the medical establishment. Two previous clinical trials of vitamin C failed to find any Read More...
Multiple sclerosis linked to food poisoning bug
The causes of multiple sclerosis (MS) have remained unclear despite decades of research. But new findings have linked this debilitating disease to a toxin produced by some strains of the bacteria that causes food poisoning. Based on their findings in mice and MS patients, the investigators believe Read More...
Understanding weekly fluctuations can help maximize weight loss
Researchers at Cornell have uncovered a natural weekly rhythm in weight changes that can help maintain a stable weight or even increase the benefits of a weight-loss program. They analyzed daily weight measurements in 80 people over a period of 15 to 330 days, and found that weight typically Read More...
Organic production improves the nutritional value of milk
There are many reasons to buy organic dairy—the animals’ quality of life, the environmental impact, and the unforeseen health consequences of consuming food from antibiotic- and hormone-treated animals, to name a few. And now a recent study suggests that switching from conventional to organic Read More...
Large-scale study confirms the safety of home birth
For women with low-risk pregnancies, delivering their babies at home with a midwife is as safe as delivering in a hospital, according to the largest study of planned home birth ever conducted in the United States. The likelihood of pregnant women undergoing interventions including epidurals, Read More...
Pesticides linked to Parkinson’s disease
Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles have identified 11 pesticides that more than double the risk of Parkinson’s disease—and at much lower concentrations than they are currently used. Furthermore, people with a common genetic variant are particularly susceptible to the Read More...
The brain: a life-long learner
A new study has shown that the connections in the brain continue to change well into adulthood—and provides promising evidence that brain function doesn’t necessarily need to decline as we age. The brain’s ‘white matter’ is the original information superhighway. Every brain cell has a Read More...
Blue light special for alertness
If you’re looking to improve your attention or reaction time, if you struggle with daytime sleepiness, or if you simply have some late-night work to do—simply switching your standard light bulb for a blue one might be a big help. Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston compared Read More...