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Mental Health Moment: Isolation is alienation

Get out and about or stay in and be grim! WE USE SOLITARY CONFINEMENT to punish people. In fact, we put a limit in this country to how long we can impose it in a prison due to the adverse effects of it. It can cause psychosis. They use it to calm down violent people,…
Ask a PA Who Knows!: Indoor tanning myths debunked

… and why you should consider an alternate tanning method EVERYONE LIKES to look good, and most people enjoy the bronzed look of a tan. Unfortunately, too many try to achieve the look of a golden tan through the use of indoor tanning methods like tanning beds. Just like tanning in the sun, indoor tanning…
Growing young with grandchildren

How interaction with children can keep you sharp as you age “AN HOUR with your grandchildren can make you feel young again.” Grandparents like Susan Sartain, a marketing and communications manager for Baycare’s Bartow Regional Medical Center, will tell you such a sentiment is true, and now there’s even science to back it up. Australian…

Signs & symptoms: When your skin needs medical attention

As a surgeon who often treats and cares for patients whose ailments of the skin have gone too long without medical attention, I’d like to talk about the importance of seeing a doctor right away if you find abnormalities on the skin. I hope people can be aware that it is not only important…
Body, mind & spirit: Integrating primary and behavioral care

When you go to the doctor complaining of stomach pain, you probably don’t expect your problem to be depression. But it just may be. When you complain of headache, clumsiness, dizziness, shakiness, blurred vision, tingling around the mouth and seizures, you might expect an anxiety or bipolar (manic-depressive) disorder. You may be surprised if…
Mediterranean diet for cardiovascular health

Dr. Sean P. O’Rourke is a board-certified cardiologist at Watson Clinic. With a subspecialty in cardiovascular disease, Dr. O’Rourke often sees patients suffering from heart disease. He took the time to answer some questions about heart disease, which has a higher death rate in Polk County than in the rest of Florida. Health…