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…
Columns
-
Understanding Hernias
June is Hernia Awareness Month and to help educate you on what a hernia is, how they can be avoided and how they’re treated, we spoke with board-certified general surgeon Shiva Seetahal, MD. Dr. Seetahal specializes in procedures that treat gastrointestinal conditions, hernias, and endocrine disorders, and provides care for the body, mind, and spirit to support his…
-
“Doc, I Was Told I Have Granulated Eyelids”
Once in a while, a patient will tell me that a previous doctor told them they had “granulated eyelids.” What does that mean? What they are describing is a medical condition called blepharitis. Most of the time, blepharitis is caused by the staphylococcus bacteria that normally live on our skin. The bacteria are there continually,…
-
Understanding Valvular Heart Disease
The heart has four valves that keep blood flowing in the correct direction. These valves are the mitral valve, tricuspid valve, pulmonary valve and aortic valve. Each valve has flaps (cusps or leaflets) that open and close once during each heartbeat. Sometimes, the valves do not open or close properly. If a valve doesn’t fully…
