Health and Illness

“These children are seen as important to the culture and the community. That they, through your efforts to help these children, that they teach you things that are helpful in other ways. And that that engenders within the community a sense of responsibility for everybody to take care of those who are disadvantaged.” That’s Dr. Holmes […]

Continue Reading The work of Dr. Holmes Morton

Back from vacation–and thank you for all the nice wishes.  It was a (mostly) restful week spent at the ocean with family, with no sunburns, and a little extra sleep, so I guess I’m coming out ahead here. After a week off there’s a lot out there to comment on. This might not be the […]

Continue Reading Amish Teeth: From Dentures to Braces

Following up our discussion on how Amish choose hospitals, a regular reader has shared observations of how his Amish friends choose and pay for conventional care.  You’ll see that sometimes creativity is involved. Per request I’ve changed the names of the locations, substituting generic names for the actual town names.  The Amish community in question […]

Continue Reading Baskets and cash: Amish working with hospitals

A black walnut dental treatment is apparently enjoying popularity in Amish (and I assume other) circles.  Black walnut extract is claimed to fix cavities, cracks, and toothaches. A local dentist, however, says it doesn’t work. Dr. Stephen Raffensperger is quoted on the treatment in this article.  He is adamant that it does not do what […]

Continue Reading Black walnut miracle extract?

I rarely get ill, but when I do, it’s more often than not in the summertime. I put this down to the constant temperature swings of modern life–going from a scorching 100+ degrees outside to the frigid air conditioned interiors of the car, work, home or store.   I try to be proactive about this. […]

Continue Reading How to beat a summer cold?

Not all Amish vaccinate their children, with concerns over safety, money and thwarting God’s will.  Amish apparently also vaccinate their horses at a lower rate. Human vaccination has been a hot issue for many years.  We don’t really think as much about animal vaccinations.  However animal-borne diseases are a potential danger, and not just to […]

Continue Reading Amish horse vaccination

This is just a heartbreaker.  A 2-year-old boy in Ohio died after severe scalding last week. Following the burn (hot water tipped onto him from the kitchen stove) he was first taken to be treated with an “Amish home burn treatment” of B and W ointment and burdock leaves. When he began going into shock […]

Continue Reading Amish burn treatment or the emergency room?

A new study seems to show that Amish children are “remarkably immune” to both allergies and asthma.  Researchers compared a group of Indiana Amish children to Swiss children from both farm and non-farm environments. Swiss farm kids were over 3 times as likely to show a predisposition to allergies than Amish children, while Swiss non-farm […]

Continue Reading Are Amish allergy-proof?

Amos Hertzler is a one-year-old Amish boy who was born with a rare esophageal condition.  His story came to public attention last October as his parents were having difficulties raising the funds for the expensive procedure Amos needed. Thankfully, Amos has since had his surgery and now the family is trying to pay off the […]

Continue Reading Amos Hertzler Benefit Breakfast

Amish people can seem a little health-obsessed. At least that’s the impression you get when perusing Amish publications, filled as they often are with advertisements for a wide range of health-enhancing products.  Many Amish purchase piles of vitamins and supplements via local dealers and mail order. You can also point to the organic food movement, […]

Continue Reading Are vitamins and supplements worth it?