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Breath of Life: Local Nurses Provide Community with Valuable CPR Training

by TERESA SCHIFFER It is estimated that more than 359,000 cardiac arrests take place outside of a hospital setting in the U.S. each year, and only 32 percent of victims receive CPR from a bystander. Unfortunately, 70 percent of Americans either don’t know CPR or their certification has significantly lapsed. Thankfully, Citizen CPR is working…
Staying Active During the Golden Years

How Exercise Can Help Senior Citizens Both Physically and Mentally by DAPHNE RENELUS There are numerous activities a person can do to improve their physical health. Exercising, especially when older, can improve a person’s physical health by keeping the heart healthy, causing the removal of toxins from the body through sweating, and increasing a person’s…
Pop Quiz: Pain in the Back – Causes and Relief Methods of Back Pain

by ERIKA ALDRICH Anyone suffering from back pain knows that it can be one of the most persistent and debilitating pains. Chronic back pain can be life-altering, with many sufferers desperate for a solution to their daily pain. Occasional back pain is very common, and a cause and treatment should be found to lessen reoccurrence…

Editor’s Dose: Tips for minimizing back-to-school stress

IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, then come early July you were already thinking about preparations for the new school year. Parents and children in the community this year are getting ready extra early because Polk County public schools moved up their calendar by one week — day one of school is August 15.
Making the choice to breastfeed

THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH in Polk County (DOH-Polk) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) recognize August as Breastfeeding Awareness Month. This is a wonderful time of year to promote breastfeeding as a vital health activity and discuss the health benefits breastfeeding provides. Although every woman has their own…
Editor’s Dose: Keeping kids’ bodies and minds active this summer

WHEN I FIRST had the twins, my mom would say, “Have a schedule for them, or they’ll have a schedule for you.” Basically, she was cautioning that I’d better keep those little minds and bodies active, or chaos would inevitably ensue. Being a mother of eight children, I think she was speaking from personal experience.…