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Nice News Today
Dropping heart attack death rates, the world’s sauna capital, and a real-life Winnie the Pooh
00:10:04
Today’s episode dives into the news that heart attack death rates have dropped to the point that they’re no longer the leading cause of death in the United States. You’ll also hear about the old-school hobbies that are becoming popular among the youth, the world’s sauna capital, and the two honey-loving bears that recently made headlines. This episode was hosted and produced by Case Kenny. Research and writing by Natalie Stone, Ally Mauch, Rebekah Brandes, and Stephanie Friedman. Music by Ryan Peitzke. For more good news, tune in to Nice News Today on Mondays and Fridays and subscribe to the daily Nice News newsletter at NiceNews.com.
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Kenny Case
Good morning. Welcome to Nice news today, your 10 minute roundup of the week's most positive News. It is June 30th and today I'm diving into the news that heart attack death rates have dropped to the point that they're no longer the leading cause of death in the U.S. i'll also tell you about the old school hobbies that are becoming popular among the youth, the sauna capital of the world, and the two honey loving bears that recently made headlines. I am your case, Kenny. Let's uncover some good Together Everything you hear in this podcast is going to be positive news, but this story makes me feel particularly hopeful about the advances being made by modern medicine. Last week, Stanford University published a study showing that in the U.S. deaths related to heart disease have plummeted by 66% since 1970, and deaths specifically from heart attacks decreased by nearly 90% in that time period. That means we can officially say heart attacks are no longer the leading cause of adult mortality in the country. The senior study author even went so far as to call this development a medical miracle, saying that the reasons for the decline can be attributed to the combined powers of science, medicine and public health. Here's an illustrative example showing how these powers have manifested. In 1970, if someone over 65 was hospitalized for a heart attack, they had a roughly 60% chance of surviving. Today, the survival rate for that same patient profile is over 90%, and it's even better for younger patients. The research team did find that more Americans now die from chronic heart disease, which is probably in part due to people significant simply living longer. Another co author of the study said, quote, we have so many tools in our toolbox now, but still, there's a lot more that can be developed and improved. I hope the numbers just keep getting better, end quote. I hope so too. We might all soon experience some of the shortest days of our lives. And that might sound scary, but it's really just a result of Earth's rotation and a fun fact for you to share with your co workers today. Back in 2020, we experienced the shortest days since scientists began tracking our planet's rotation time, and ever since then, Earth has been overall spinning faster on its axis to the point where timekeeping experts have said all of our clocks might have to skip a whole second around 2029. In the shorter term, this speedier rotation means that there are a few days coming up that are expected to be shorter than 24 hours, just by about a millisecond. So if July 9, July20, August 5 feel different to you, it may be because you lost a fraction of a second. Now in the latest example of something old becoming new again, there's a new trend of 20 and 30 somethings taking up pre tech pastimes like knitting, needlepoint, crafting, baking and scrapbooking. Many young people are engaging in these so called grandma hobbies as a way to reduce their screen time and build community, according to a recent report from the Wal Street Journal. And there's data to back up the search beyond the popularity of the hashtag Grandma Core on TikTok. In a survey of U S adults, 86% of Gen Zers identified as crafters and 30% said they had participated in an in person arts and crafts class. To sum up the reasons behind the trend, I'll share a quote from Megan Spur, who works for a newly opened needlepoint business in Dallas. She said needlepoint provides the opportunity to learn something new, be social and have something tangible that getting to level 6,000 on candy crust just doesn't provide. Sounds pretty cool. Might be time for me to invest in some knitting needles before we dive into more good news, I want to tell you about today's sponsor, Wantable. Are you tired of shopping for new clothes, hate them all, or just don't know what goes together? Whatever your reason, getting a personal stylist is the ultimate unlock for your wardrobe. With Wantable, you get your own personally assigned stylist, a real person who will get to know your style, budget preferences and body shape to pick out the clothing items that actually make sense for you. They'll send you premium handpicked pieces that you could try on from the comfort of your own home and you keep what you love, then send back the rest in the prepaid shipping bag. Not sure what you're looking for? You can browse Wantable's limited time themes to find something right for you, but if you do know exactly what's missing in your closet, grab their standard style active sleep and body or men's edit and let your stylist know exactly what you want to see. Get styled with Wantable Today here's some encouraging news for those of us who have a massive collection of reusable bags in our houses or car trunks. Switching from single use plastic to totes is actually making our oceans and beaches cleaner. A new study found that plastic bag bans and fees have a decidedly positive effect on the environment. The researchers looked at the result from over 45,000 beach cleanups in the US between 2016 and 2023, and in the end they found that cleanups collected between 25 and 47% fewer plastic bags in areas with bag bans or taxes compared to places without the policies in place. Even better, these results indicate that regulating other single use plastics would likely be similarly effective. So don't forget to use your reusable totes on your next grocery store trip. If you were affected by the recent heat waves, you probably don't want to hear the word sauna right now, but this is still a very cool story. When you think of places synonymous with heat enclosures, you likely think of Finland. The ancient Finns are credited with creating sauna culture around 2,000 years ago, after all. But a recent analysis evaluated sauna reviews from 172 different cities around the globe and found that Riga, the capital of Latvia, came out on top. Like Finland, Latvia and its fellow Baltic countries have a strong spa and wellness culture. Traditional Latvian saunas are a unique experience. They're typically wet saunas, meaning steam is created by pouring hot water over scalding hot stones. They also often involve a sauna master who guides guests through a four visit sauna ritual that begins with a cup of herbal tea. Sounds pretty nice. Winnie the Pooh, is that you? Before we get to today's inspiring human, we're closing out with a fun animal story. A wildlife park in the UK recently shared that two of its resident brown bears, 4 year olds Mish and Lucy, had escaped their enclosure due to an operational error. But the young rescue animals didn't wreak havoc or pose a threat to any park goers. They simply headed straight to the park's food supply store and proceeded to devour a seven day supply of honey among other treats. Once escorted back to their enclosure, they fell fast asleep. I mean, that much honey is sure to cause a food coma. And to make a good story even better, the park's director of Zoological operations told the BBC that after the bears made headlines, community members began donating honey as well as funds to help replenish the depleted supply. He said, quote, I couldn't have had more gratitude for how people have responded to this and rallied around and offered support. He also added that people seem to have, quote, picked up on the cheeky element of bears. You may have heard that last week Faith Kipjugaan attempted to run a sub four minute mile, something that has never been accomplished by a woman before. And while the Kenyan athlete didn't quite meet her goal, we still think her story is worthy of today's inspiring human spot. Thursday Kippy gone suited up for her long awaited sub 4 attempt at a Paris event organized by Nike. She finished with a time of 4 minutes and 6.42 seconds. It wasn't exactly what she set out to do, but it was still a personal best. And a personal best for Kipyugan means the fastest mile run by a woman in history. But before she was running in Nike spikes and an aerodynamic racing suit, she was a child running barefoot to and from her school in Kenya. She even ran barefoot at the World Junior Cross country championships in 2011 and won. The runner went on to become the first woman to win three consecutive Olympic 1500 meter titles and, as I mentioned, the record holder for the fastest woman's mile. Kippigana said that running to and from school was fun and she seems to have maintained that positive approach to her sport. After her sub four attempt, she said, I feel good. I've tried. And trying is an inspiration in and of itself, isn't it? She also said that her attempt has proven that a woman's sub 4 is possible, so even if she doesn't do it, there's a woman or little girl out there who will. And that's it for today's episode. If you loved these stories, please consider giving us a follow on Apple, Spotify and YouTube and sharing this episode with a friend. If you want more good news, visit nicenews.com to sign up for our free daily newsletter. But until next time, keep spreading your light and remember, there's more than enough good out there to go around. Have a great day.