I’m not an asthma sufferer, but I found this pretty fascinating. A recent study by researchers at Franklin and Marshall College suggests that something about the Amish or their lifestyle may be connected to lower rates of asthma. From the Lancaster Online article: Living on farms and coming from large families are considered protective factors against asthma, just as city dwelling is a risk factor,…
From an Associated Press report: An Ohio hospital is fighting to force a 10-year-old Amish girl with leukemia to resume chemotherapy after her parents decided to stop the treatments. Akron Children’s Hospital is appealing a judge’s decision that blocked an attorney who’s also a registered nurse from taking over limited guardianship and making medical decisions for the girl. The hospital believes the girl will die without chemotherapy…
From the Watertown Daily Times: CANTON — An Amish couple is waiting to find out if child neglect charges against them will be dropped following a closed-door conference Thursday in Family Court. The couple, Annie L. and Levi M. Shetler, were charged last year after they refused open-heart surgery for their newborn daughter, Sarah, because they said the operation goes against the tenets of their…
Amos Hertzler is an Amish child born with a rare esophageal defect.  We’ve followed his story since it became public in 2011, mostly through news coverage and some reader reports. The Buffalo News is reporting that Amos is returning home after 15 months in a Boston hospital: But, Amos’ treatment for a rare esophagus problem did not work out as his family and doctors had…
Today’s question springs from a new study on a genetic mutation which causes a form of mental retardation among Amish. Like other genetic research involving the Amish, this study will probably help them health-wise.  It’s really the language used to describe it which may not be quite so helpful. In the article describing the work, researcher José Luis Rosa of the University of Barcelona states that “in these communities…
Today’s question is inspired by an anecdote a reader noticed in the February 2013 “Mexico Mennonite Aid Update”. Â The following was related by Steve L. Yoder in a section entitled “A Deadly Weed”: Very few can kick the habit as an Amish friend of mine did. In bygone years the local drug stores always had cigars and cigarettes in their store windows right by the…
Ruth Anne writes: As a mother to a young woman who has Down syndrome I am curious as to how people with intellectual disabilities are accepted and integrated into the Amish culture. Â I live near Xenia, Ohio and I often see Amish people out and about shopping, visiting the doctor, etc., but I have never noticed an Amish person who has Down syndrome or any…
Pennsylvania Amishman John Stoltzfus has kindly agreed to answer some reader questions about the Amish. Of course “the Amish” includes different groups with different practices. With that in mind, John writes that “my views will not be the only view from our people, because of the vast geographic area of our communities, and because each community or settlement has its own Ordnung. I will try…
That may seem a dumb question. Hard work = exercise after all, and “hard work” is one of the bullet points in the Amish job description, for most Amish folks anyway. However I think there is a difference between the two. What I mean is the 21st-century Western approach to exercise, where we isolate it as its own, often-intense activity done strictly for health, weight…
There’s an update out on Amos Hertzler, an Amish boy born with a rare esophageal condition which required him to be fed through a tube. We first mentioned Amos’ story here, and then followed up in March with Tom in NY’s photos from the benefit breakfast to raise money for Amos’ surgery. Unfortunately two-year-old Amos has suffered complications recently, according to a story in The Buffalo News (kudos…