Hydrogen BOnding

Hydrogen is a “bonding element” with a weak positive charge and often combines with other elements that have a negative charge. For example:     -     Water (H20) is composed of 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom, making water 2/3 hydrogen     -     Ammonia (NH3) is composed of 3 hydrogen atoms and 1 nitrogen atom making it 3/4 hydrogen     -     Hydrogen holds 2 strands of DNA together to form the elegant double helix, making replication of the strands possible, as they "unzip" along hydrogen bonds.

According to Dr. Helmenstine, bonding occurs because the electron is not shared evenly between a (positive) hydrogen atom and a negatively charged atom:  the hydrogen in a bond still only has 1 electron, while it takes 2 for a stable electron pair. The result is that the hydrogen atom carries a weak positive charge, so it remains attracted to atoms that still carry a negative charge.

Hydrogen

Hydrogen (H) is the lightest element in the periodic table with a standard atomic weight of 1.008. Touted as the most abundant chemical element in the universe, it is said to make up 75 percent of normal matter by mass and more than 90 percent by number of atoms. At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, nonmetallic, highly combustible gas (The sun is 75 percent hydrogen and nearly 25 percent helium with a few extra elements thrown in.) Most of the hydrogen on earth exists in molecular forms such as water or organic compounds. Hydrogen is considered to function as a “bonding element” in many cases. Hydrogen bonding occurs between a hydrogen atom and an electronegative atom such as oxygen, fluorine, and chlorine.

Hydrogen Water and Health

You may have heard lately about HW or hydrogen water. I’ve had several texts and emails asking for my take on it. To begin, I need to back up and remind you of some high school chemistry. I nearly burned down the lab when something I want working on blew up. No one was hurt but I decided definitely not to become a chemist! An ion is an atom or a group of atoms with an electric charge. Positive ions, or cations, are formed by the loss of electrons; negative ions, or anions, are formed by the gain of electrons. You may recall that atoms typically have two electrons. The hydrogen ion or atom is composed of 1 proton and 1 electron and carries a weak positive (+) charge. 

PTSD, TBI, and Moral Injury

Over the past ten years or so, Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTS or PTSD) have become household terms. This is due in part at least to the maturation of attitudes about the costs of war. In a similar manner, moral injury is now the object of growing focus by researchers and academics. The type and severity of trauma that can cause PTSD, may also cause moral injury, as well. The Moral Injury project has pointed out that by its nature, moral injury does not necessarily present itself immediately. Some will experience questions of moral injury days soon after an incident. For others, however, difficulties will not surface for years. An experience with potential for moral injury is typically realized after a change in personal moral codes or belief systems. It might be helpful to do a personal inventory and ask oneself if moral injury could be something that is being wrestled with—sometimes without having had a label to pin on the internal conflict.

Moral Injury Project

Syracuse University has initiated a ‘Moral Injury Project.’ Reportedly, the Moral Injury Project at Syracuse University in New York State was formed in Summer 2014 after a gathering of academics, administrators, researchers, religious scholars, veterans, professors, chaplains, and mental health providers addressed the question: What are we doing about moral injury among US military veterans? Among other things, this project as defining moral injury as the damage done to one’s conscience or moral compass when that person perpetrates, witnesses, or fails to prevent acts that transgress one’s own moral beliefs, values, or ethical codes of conduct. War is one (but not the only) thing that can cause this damage. Abuse, rape, and violence may cause similar types of damage. “Soul repair” and “soul wound” are terms already in use by researchers and institutions in the United States who are exploring moral injury and pathways to recovery.

http://moralinjuryproject.syr.edu/about-moral-injury/

“Canary in the Coal Mine”

Doctors Talbot and Dean describe physicians as the ”canaries in the health-care coalmine,” and point out that doctors are killing themselves at alarming rates; some estimate at rates twice that of active duty military members. This may be all wrapped up with moral injury due to the way health care is administered with no apparently way to alter the system. For physicians, a perception that they are failing to consistently meet patients’ needs has been found to have a huge and profound impact on the personal wellbeing of the physician. Talbot and Dean believe that this is the crux of consequent moral injury for doctors.

 

https://www.statnews.com/2018/07/26/physicians-not-burning-out-they-are-suffering-moral-injury/

Moral Injury or Burnout

Burnout can be described as a group of symptoms an individual exhibits, including exhaustion and cynicism, which can combine to decrease one’s productivity. More recently the term Moral Injury is being applied to health-care professionals, physicians in particular. There is a difference between “burnout” and “moral injury.” A 2018 article by Simon G. Talbot and Wendy Dean was titled: “Physicians aren’t ‘burning out.’ They’re suffering from moral injury.” Silver, a journalist, described moral injury as the result of “perpetrating, failing to prevent, bearing witness to, or learning about acts that transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expectations.” Put another way, moral injury occurs when a brain perceives that there has been a betrayal of what is “right” by another individual or by one’s self as in “I did this.”