Health News

Features

How a life-saving transplant transformed my life

| Annemarie Ward shares her journey of keeping hope alive amidst heart disease | NEARLY 15 YEARS AGO, Annemarie Ward was walking the family’s three dogs with her mother Polly and sister Emily when she collapsed. At age seven, Annemarie had suffered a heart attack. She was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or enlargement of the…
Pop Quiz: Maintaining optimal optical health

| Understanding the causes of low vision and taking precautions as you age | EYESIGHT is a precious thing, and unfortunately there are many threats to optimal optical health. One common eye problem is low vision, and it affects seniors the most. Low vision, in its simplest terms, is any vision loss that interferes with…
Celebrating Black History Month with a look at local African-Americans in medicine

ALEX ALEXANDER Registered Nurse Bartow Regional Medical Center As a black registered nurse from North Carolina, 56-year-old Alex Alexander has had his run-ins with prejudice. But he’s learned to remember who he is, treat others like his brothers and sisters, forgive, and … not believe everything he hears. “You earn things by your merit and…

All about Allergies

Whether you call it seasonal allergies, allergic rhinitis or hay fever, it affects millions of people worldwide and is very common. There are 2 main types of allergic rhinitis: Seasonal allergies (hay fever): Caused by an allergy to pollen and/or mold spores in the air. Pollen, is comes from t flowering plants and is carried…
Lake Wales Medical Center’s Golden Care Unit is filling a need for behavioral health care specifically aimed at seniors.

When an elderly parent starts hearing music that isn’t there, or seeing objects that aren’t there, it can be perplexing. Reading the signs can be difficult: is it a side effect to a new medication, or something more ominous? Whether it’s hallucinations, early signs of Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, or another behavioral health…
What is the Annual Wellness Visit?

by DR. JEFFREY EPSTEIN You may be wondering what exactly an Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) is, or why you need one. After all, this is not something you have had done at your yearly physical with your doctor. Yet, as you age, this becomes an important part of your healthcare routine. Consider this. Think of…