Miracles we haz them

5 ,,

,,,Bishop Sheen was a popular Catholic speaker who had his own TV show, which you can still find on you tube. A bit flamboyant for today's laid back media, but very informative and often very funny.  Lots of people in the USA think he was a saint, so most are happy that he might be declared one by the church.

Trivia fact about him:  Martin Sheen chose his name for his stage name. 

But coming back to the baby who lived: as a doc I see why this incident is called a miracle, but, is this a miracle? such things happen in medicine although very rare....

the medical explanation is that the hemoglobin in babies carries oxygen differently so prolonged lack of oxygen is not as dangerous as it is for adults, but betting a baby back after a one hour delay is unusual, and getting a child who recovered fully after this is sort of a miracle too, so I guess you could call it a miracle.

as a doc, I did have a similar case of full recovery of a baby.

when I worked in rural Africa 40 years ago. Premature babies usually didn't survive, and the only incubator was a wooden box with a glass lid, where we controlled the temperature with light bulbs and supplied oxygen via a tube.

One Christmas, we had a  three pound baby who was struggling to survive.,

When she started gasping, the nurse called me to help. 

We increased her oxygen and started to stimulate her, rubbing her to encourage her to breathe. But then suddenly she gasped and died: i.e. turned pale and went weak. So we started CPR. 

She did come back but her heartbeat kept going off and on and she was not breathing. Finally, after about a half hour, she again  turned pale and lacked a heartbeat, 

so since nothing was working I figured it was time  to do something illogical,  I instructed the nurse: Petronilla, baptize her. So she was baptized Mary,,, at which point she started breathing and moving a bit and within five minutes she was breathing on her own and looked normal.

A miracle from being hit with cold water on her head? I don't know. But she did recover and eventually went home.

Now there is another part to this story.

In Africa, unless both parents were baptized Catholic and married in the church, we did not baptize babies because their parents might not bring them up in the church. So the local priest, hearing what I had done, was very annoyed, especially since the father was the local shaman and not a Christian. ]

But as I  explained: well, we tried everything else so I figured it was time to ask for a miracle. 

 LOL

In medicine, we do see a lot of coincidences: people who should live but who die, but also those who we thought would die but survived...

when I was in medical school one teacher pointed this out, ,and said that was why few doctors were pious, but most did believe in a higher power and an ultimate reason for all the things we saw, both good and bad.

The background of an X star

 I took ASL when I was working at an institution for the mentally disabled, and there are some schools which specialize with these students, including the school in Rochester where my brother got his degree.in engineering.

ASL is not just used for the deaf but children with speech impediments (for example, those with Down's syndrome) can learn it more easily to communicate.

And although I have forgotten most of my signing, I still use it when a kid is noisy or afraid of me: I sign to them and they are intrigued.

But there are other ways to communicate, and so DataRepublican's mom has an X post about how they raised their daughter.

I posted the tweet but blogger ate it and didn't publish it even though it is still there in my html. So here is the address: Copy and paste: https://t.co/yqJuy5SqDV

 I should note that she lost her hearing from meningitis at age 2, so already had the template of her brain wired with speech, so this might have been easier for her to learn than a kid who never was able to hear.

they put signs up on objects then increased the signs to include vocabulary. So she could read then lip read and did learn to sign later in life.

The writer Walker Percy had a daughter born deaf and they used a similar method to teach her to communicate. Discussion about this HERE.

 The ASL community is like other minorities and support each other, and resent those who don't want to join them. But now with cochlear implants, the controverxy is getting sharper.

You might prefer to raise your child is in your deaf culture, but if you get cochlear implants, they no longer are in that culture. This article from an Australian news site discusses.

The mother of DataRepublican (small R) chose to integrate her child into the wide world because her family was a hearing family, and as I noted, she already had the developmental part of her brain wired for speech. Nevertheless, it was a struggle.

Update: Blogger is now allowing me to post the X link

https://t.co/yqJuy5SqDV

— MOMof DataRepublican (@data_republican) January 26, 2026

....

and if you don't know who DataRepublican(small r) is: Shame on you. I know her from X but her website is here.

Rand Paul discusses covid

 

posted for later listening on my tablet.

Rand Paul is a dangerous guy: He is a doctor and honest and won't obey the propaganda of either side.

Nurses strike in NYC

 UKGuardian article:

Close to 15,000 nurses are participating, making it the biggest nurses strike the city has ever seen. Most union members voted last month to authorize the walkout. Anticipating the possibility of a strike,

New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, declared a state of emergency on Friday and urged hospital administrators and union leaders to reach a last-minute agreement. She warned that a strike “could jeopardize the lives of thousands of New Yorkers and patients”. “I’m strongly encouraging everyone to stay at the table, both sides, management and the nurses, until this is resolved,” Hochul said. 

 

 As in the 2023 labor dispute, the current conflict centers on a complex mix of grievances, rebuttals and hospital-specific concerns. Staffing remains a key source of contention, with nurses arguing that well-funded hospitals are unwilling to commit to standards that ensure safe and manageable workloads....

and the socialist Mayor is backing the nurses.

 

The nursing shortage is constant, and with the aging population and with the increase in paperwork required in hospitals that distracts nurses from doing actual nursing, you can see how the emphasis is about money for the paper pushers, not the nurses.

But does the influx of overseas nurses to fill the gap in the nursing shortage depress wages for US Nurses?   

I examine this in my medical blog, but the answer is probably not.

caregivers: The Filipino OFW

 

....................

A reminder that the important things are not the wars but the family you love.

Plsstics....

 

,,,,

🚨Massive MAHA win today on phthalate chemicals!

The Trump EPA just completed our TSCA risk evaluation of phthalates; the most comprehensive assessment of phthalates ever conducted by EPA. We are now announcing that, following gold standard science, promoting radical…

— Lee Zeldin (@epaleezeldin) December 31, 2025

,,,,

Phthalates and Their Impacts on Human HealthP

thalates are a series of widely used chemicals that demonstrate to be endocrine disruptors and are detrimental to human health. Phthalates can be found in most products that have contact with plastics during producing, packaging, or delivering. Despite the short half-lives in tissues, chronic exposure to phthalates will adversely influence the endocrine system and functioning of multiple organs, which has negative long-term impacts on the success of pregnancy, child growth and development, and reproductive systems in both young children and adolescents.

essentially, these are some of the chemicals in plastics that leech out into the enfvironment: or directly to you (plastic bottles leech it to you).

and these chemicals induce problems, including metabololic syndrome, aka pre diabetes and obesity.

Grok summary because it is easier to understand than my descripgionn or the description on many medical sites like the one I posted above:

What Are Phthalates?Phthalates are a group of synthetic chemicals primarily used as plasticizers to increase the flexibility, durability, and longevity of plastics, especially polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Common examples include:

• DEHP (di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate)
• DBP (dibutyl phthalate)
• BBP (benzyl butyl phthalate)
• DEP (diethyl phthalate)
• DINP (diisononyl phthalate)

They are also used as solvents in cosmetics, fragrances, and personal care products to retain scents or improve texture.

Examples of phthalate chemical structures (e.g., DEHP, DBP, and others).Sources of Human ExposurePhthalates are ubiquitous due to their widespread use and ability to leach from products. Primary routes include ingestion, inhalation, dermal absorption, and medical procedures.

Source Category	Common Examples	Primary Exposure Route
Plastics & Packaging	Food containers, vinyl flooring, shower curtains, toys	Ingestion (leaching into food), inhalation (dust)
Personal Care Products	Fragranced lotions, shampoos, perfumes, nail polish	Dermal absorption, inhalation
Food Processing	Gloves, tubing in factories	Ingestion (contamination of processed foods)
Medical Devices	IV tubing, blood bags	Direct (during procedures)
Household Items	Paints, adhesives, air fresheners	Inhalation, dust

Visuals showing common sources like cosmetics, plastics, and pollution pathways.Nearly all humans have detectable phthalate metabolites in urine, with higher levels in children and women due to product use.Impacts on Human HealthPhthalates are classified as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), interfering with hormone systems. They have short half-lives but chronic low-level exposure causes cumulative effects. Vulnerable groups include fetuses, infants, and children.Key health concerns, supported by epidemiological reviews and animal studies:

• Reproductive Health — Strong evidence links prenatal exposure to reduced anogenital distance in boys, lower semen quality, altered hormone levels (e.g., testosterone), endometriosis, and fertility issues in adults.
• Developmental Effects — Associations with neurodevelopmental issues (e.g., ADHD, autism traits), lower IQ, behavioral problems, and childhood asthma.
• Metabolic & Other — Links to obesity, type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, thyroid disruption, and potential cancers (e.g., breast).
• Mechanisms — Anti-androgenic effects, oxidative stress, epigenetic changes, and interference with nuclear receptors.

Infographics summarizing health effects and exposure risks.While some industry sources emphasize benefits (e.g., in medical devices saving lives) and low exposure risks, scientific consensus from bodies like the EPA and reviews highlights unreasonable risks at real-world levels, especially cumulatively.Regulations and Trends (as of 2026)

• US Federal → CPSIA bans 8 phthalates (>0.1%) in children's toys/childcare articles. EPA is evaluating risks for additional phthalates under TSCA, with recent findings of unreasonable risks in industrial uses.
• State-Level → Bans/restrictions in cosmetics (e.g., Washington), food packaging, and toys (e.g., New York effective 2025).
• FDA → Revoked many food contact authorizations; monitoring remaining uses.
• Global → EU has stricter limits; some countries ban specific phthalates in more products.

Exposure to some phthalates has declined due to substitutions, but replacements (e.g., DINCH) need monitoring.Reducing Exposure

• Choose phthalate-free or fragrance-free personal care products.
• Avoid heating food in plastic containers; use glass/stainless steel.
• Minimize processed foods and vinyl products.
• Dust/vacuum regularly to reduce household accumulation.

Overall, while phthalates provide practical benefits in plastics, substantial evidence supports minimizing exposure, particularly for reproductive and child health. Ongoing research and regulation aim to balance utility with safety.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

,

one problem: how does one replace this chemical without a huge increase in prices and maybe replacing it with something else that ha it's own dangers?