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September is Suicide Prevention Month

By Mary Joye, LMHC We probably all agree there needs to be more than one month set aside for suicide awareness. Statistically and tragically, there are on average, one-hundred-twenty-one suicides per day. That’s almost 45,000 per year. Often, I hear healthy people say, “It is selfish for people to commit suicide.” From those who think…
Phillip Williams Helping to Light the Way for the Blind

By LENORE DEVORE Phillip Williams was almost 15 years old when the juvenile version of macular degeneration – Stargardt disease – began to take his eyesight. What starts out robbing people of their central vision eventually leaves its sufferers blind or legally blind. “I went through the rest of high school coping with (the transition…
Feel Good 5K Set to Support Local Mental Health Initiatives

By Teresa Schiffer The Feel Good 5k is a great way to get out and show your support for one of our most valuable resources – the mental health professionals at Peace River Center. Make an impact in the lives of vulnerable children by participating in this fun event! It’s no secret that mental…

PCMA Letter: A Letter of Encouragement

This edition of Central Florida Health News magazine is full of valued insight on how to stay healthy this holiday season— and beyond. You’ll find key observations on home safety during the holiday crunch, managing stress with healthy foods, the fact and fiction about antibiotics, and a killer disease: Pancreatic cancer. As a radiation oncologist,…
Pancreatic Cancer update

National Research and Local Alliance Efforts Keep Hope from Being Blown Away John Rodda was sitting to dinner with his wife, Becky, when she noticed his eyes were bright yellow. Although he’d had a horrible stomachache a couple of weeks earlier, they didn’t realize it was anything serious. Unknown to them, the Lakeland-based commercial contractor had…
Healthy Cook: Keep calm and cook on

There is too much going on . . . the holidays to cook for . . . Grandma and the bratty cousins to buy for . . . the new puppy will probably knock the tree over (if the cat doesn’t climb it first) . . . Take a deep breath, go relax in a…