What is the very worst prison imaginable? In today’s Thursday Thought quote, Pope John Paul II tells us.
“The worst prison would be a closed heart.” — Pope John Paul II
If we all had open hearts, would we even need prisons?
Tag Archive for heart
The Bacteria are Winning
What good is that hand sanitizer we trust to keep germs away? Not as good as it used to be. It’s alcohol-based, and bacteria are adapting to alcohol. When sanitizers were put into use in hospitals, some infections decreased, but others (especially ones affecting the bladder, heart, and digestive tract–the enterococcal infections) actually increased.
Right now, increasing the amount of alcohol from the usual 60% in hand sanitizers to 70% helps, but bacteria are adjusting to the higher concentration, as well. Read more about this at Some Bacteria Are Becoming ‘More Tolerant’ Of Hand Sanitizers, Study Finds.
And there are questions about how healthy such sanitizers are for humans.
The solution: Public health experts direct hospitals and us back to basics, which means frequent, adequate (20-30 seconds) washing of hands with plain soap that doesn’t contain anti-bacterial additives. Ignore the issue of hot vs. cold water, because they work the same, since your hands can’t stand water hot enough to kill bacteria.
Keep healthy, Friends!
I’m Taking this to Heart
Today’s Thursday Thought is something I’ve really been trying to take to heart ever since I realized that I spend a lot of time with a clenched stomach and urge to fight back.
A Child Tells it Like it Is–or Should Be
This little girl speaks from her heart as she gives advice to her mom. Nobody put the words in her mouth. She’s so young…and so wise.
(Thanks to Samantha Chen for sending me this video.)
Sticks and Stones
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” So goes the child’s defensive chant. But we all knows that isn’t true, because we’ve all been the victims of words. Today’s Thursday Thought, then, gives some excellent advice.
Men vs. Women–Take Heart
As we all know, men are different from women. It’s important to remember that one of those differences is in how men and women experience a heart attack. Today, which is National Wear Red Day to promote heart-attack-awareness for women, it’s appropriate to post a reminder of what the American Heart Assn. says are women’s symptoms, with a note about men’s:
Symptoms of a heart attack:
- Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of your chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back.
- Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
- Shortness of breath, with or without chest discomfort.
- Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.
As with men, the most common heart attack symptom in women is chest pain or discomfort. But it’s important to note that women are more likely to experience the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.
Just a Little Heart Attack
Like my friend Linda, I didn’t think anything about a woman having a heart attack could be at all funny. Actually, I think it would be funny only to women, because a “typical morning” for a man tends to be very different from that of a woman. Anyway, this short video gets the message across while letting us chuckle a bit–if somewhat uneasily. Judge for yourself:
[Thanks to Linda Younts for this one.]
Great Heart-Rescue Video
We never know when we’ll be in this situation, when we see someone suffering a heart attack. Until I saw this video, the AED was a mysterious machine that I wouldn’t even try to use. Take a few minutes to view this informative video.