Health News

Features

Making African-American history in Polk

Alice Manley: A lifetime of service (above) Alice Manley stands with four generations of directors for the health department. From left to right: Dr. Ulyee Choe (November 2012-Present); Dr. Daniel Haight (July 1996-November 2012); Dr. William F. Hill (January 1967-June 1985); and Dr. Kevin Sherin (July 1988-October 1993). Photo courtesy of the Florida Department of…
Painting the town red with heart disease prevention

How Polk is taking steps to increase awareness and lower your risk Bill Mutz thought he was just going to help with a demonstration when he volunteered for an ultrasound at a Lakeland Leadership Cardiology group. But what he learned actually helped him: The ultrasound showed blood was not flowing properly through his heart’s mitral…
New year, New you!

How Polk County is Tackling Obesity and Residents are Making Healthier Lifestyle Choices Fifty-one year-old Ann Good topped 200 pounds last May. She lacked energy and was short of breath. Concerned about a family history of heart disease and diabetes, she decided to act. Today Good is 50 pounds lighter and breathing easier, in more…

A Closer Look at Cryptogenic Stroke

A cryptogenic stroke (CS) is defined as cerebral ischemia of obscure or unknown origin. The cause of CS remains undetermined because the event is transitory or reversible, investigations did not look for all possible causes, or because some causes truly remain unknown. One third of the ischemic strokes are cryptogenic. Cryptogenic stroke is a diagnosis…
HOW DID I GET THIS STYE?

Medically a stye is called a hordeolum. If we look at the eyelid’s anatomy, particularly the lid margin, you will find the lashes, and beside the lashes is the opening of our Meibomian glands. The Meibomian glands are the hard embedded plates that you can feel in both the upper and lower lids. The Meibomian…
Types of Strokes

A stroke is when blood flow to a part of your brain is stopped either by a blockage or the rupture of a blood vessel. The medical term for this is Cerebrovascular accident. As the definition states, it can be caused by one of two problems. Either by blockage of flow to an artery in the brain…