physicians – Page 7 – watercress words by Dr Aletha

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The Good Samaritans Fighting Ebola

“Not the glittering weapon fights the fight, says the proverb, but rather the hero’s heart.Maybe this is true in any battle; it is surely true of a war that is waged with bleach and a prayer.”
Nancy Gibbs, Time magazine, 2014

Called for Life: How Loving Our Neighbor Led Us into the Heart of the Ebola Epidemic.

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Dr. Kent Brantly, missionary physician to Liberia

Dr. Kent Brantly awoke feeling ill- muscle aches, fever, sore throat, headache and nausea. As his condition progressively worsened to include difficulty breathing, he learned the cause of his illness- the Ebola virus. Having spent the past few weeks caring for patients caught up in the Ebola epidemic that swept Liberia in the spring of 2014, Dr. Brantly had contracted the disease himself, and would likely die, as almost all victims do.

Dr. Brantly, a graduate of Indiana University’s School of Medicine, had volunteered to work at ELWA Hospital in Liberia which was receiving aid from Samaritan’s Purse, an international relief organization. This hospital served as Monrovia’s Ebola treatment center and Dr. Brantly headed the unit.

As his condition deteriorated, his physicians decided his only hope for recovery was use of an experimental drug, ZMapp, previously untested on humans. Since otherwise he was likely to die, he received the drug by infusion into a vein. By the next morning he felt well enough to arise from bed and shower. Unknown to him, thousands of people around the world had been praying for him.

During this time his colleague, nurse Nancy Writebol, was battling her own Ebola infection. She also was treated with ZMapp.

Samaritan’s Purse arranged for both of them to be evacuated to the United States. There, they could continue receiving supportive medical care, as well as allow infectious disease specialists to learn from their conditions. It also would relieve the workload on the doctors who continued to care for Ebola patients at ELWA.

Dr. Brantly and his wife Amber, who had just left Liberia to return home for a visit, wrote a book about their experience,Called for Life.

sharing the HEART of health

Dr. Aletha

Dr. Krauthammer writes for for The Washington Post and his essays are “a kind of exotic indulgence” to use his own phrase. He uses words the way Andrea Bocelli uses songs, or B.B. King used a guitar- all masters of their craft.

Most of his pieces are serious and somber, understandable considering that he tackles such dark subjects as terrorism, war, government corruption, and social injustice. But occasionally he takes a lighter approach to subjects which are important on a different level.

Free Willy!

Such is this piece in which he predicts the demise of meat-eating, most likely for economic reasons. But medical studies do suggest vegetarian diets are healthier, may lower the risk of colon cancer, and may promote weight loss better than other diets.

fresh vegetables-lettuce, tomatoes, radishes — Will we stop eating meat?

This article may make you laugh, applaud, growl, or just dismiss the whole thing as irrelevant. But might we all agree on one point?

“One measure of human moral progress-amid and despite the savageries we visit upon each other-is how we treat the innocent in our care. ”
Dr. Charles Krauthammer