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De-Stressing 101

Stress Avoidance a Key Factor For A Healthy Heart By Mary Toothman Many people are careful to wear seatbelts, exercise regularly, and eat a balanced diet. But many may be unaware of how harmful to our health it can be to carry around a lot of physical or emotional stress. Unmanaged stress can increase the…
Local Experts Weigh-In On the Fight Against Heart Disease

By Matt Norman It is a common misconception that heart disease is a men’s problem. While this is a major problem for men, it doesn’t mean women are safe. In fact, 1 in 3 female deaths each year is a result of heart disease or stroke. This means one death every 80 seconds. As an…
Wake Up to Sleeping Disorders

Sleep Apnea Puts Your Heart Health At Risk by Catherine Cervone If you snore so loudly you’re constantly waking your partner up, you’re falling asleep at the wheel, or you’re having extreme fatigue throughout the day, you may have sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is most noticeable when you’re sleeping, though it usually is not recognizable…

Editor’s Dose: A thank-you letter to nurses

FROM MID-FEBRUARY to about mid-April, my family was at the doctor’s office a lot. The late-spreading flu season (although none of us in our household ever actually caught the flu — thank goodness) must have carried with it many other viruses, because we’ve certainly experienced our fair share. In fact, a few nurses on staff…
Healthy Skin: May is Melanoma and Skin Cancer Awareness Month

“C’MON, DOC. What’s a little sunburn?” is a question I frequently hear from the public. The answer is, if you’re lucky, that’s all it is. But a little sunburn is one of the easiest skin cancer risk factors to avoid. If left untreated, skin cancer, or melanoma, can progress to the point that it’s disfiguring…
Cautions for two of your favorite summer activities

SPRING IS THE TIME OF YEAR in Florida when temperatures begin to warm and the weather is perfect outside. With the sun shining and a gentle breeze blowing, this beautiful weather also marks the beginning of swimming season for Polk’s residents. Swimming and boating are two of the most popular summer activities for people living…