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Pop Quiz: Germs 101—A Crash Course for Parents

Back-to-school season is upon us, and that means your child’s chances of coming down with an illness is greatly increased. While schools are centers of learning, they are also breeding grounds for all manner of germs. However, there are ways to lessen your child’s chances of coming down with something, having to miss school due…
Tackling Mental Health Together

Establishing the West Central Florida Mental Wellness Coalition Recognizing the record number of suicide rates, substance use and opioid deaths, nearly 30 local organizations have joined forces to develop a regional mental health initiative. On June 20, BayCare CEO and President Tommy Inzina and participating leaders from other hospitals, behavioral health providers, law enforcement, government…
Working Like a Dog

Reading with Bonnie the Therapy Dog by RACHEL CHRISTIAN Cassandra Banning and Bonnie, her 10-year-old shih tzu therapy dog, have been bringing joy and happiness to people in the Plant City area for almost six years. The pair can be spotted across town visiting nursing homes, hospitals, and even Bruton Memorial Library. Unlike service animals…

Halloween Eye Safety

Knock knock…trick or treat… A lot of your neighbors might be tempted to choose trick over treat during COVID Halloween 2020. If you plan to partake in the Halloween festivities of 2020, please do so with a clear vision of safety. The following are some of my pointers to observe good Halloween safety. If you…
A Closer Look at Cryptogenic Stroke

A cryptogenic stroke (CS) is defined as cerebral ischemia of obscure or unknown origin. The cause of CS remains undetermined because the event is transitory or reversible, investigations did not look for all possible causes, or because some causes truly remain unknown. One third of the ischemic strokes are cryptogenic. Cryptogenic stroke is a diagnosis…
HOW DID I GET THIS STYE?

Medically a stye is called a hordeolum. If we look at the eyelid’s anatomy, particularly the lid margin, you will find the lashes, and beside the lashes is the opening of our Meibomian glands. The Meibomian glands are the hard embedded plates that you can feel in both the upper and lower lids. The Meibomian…