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Spring cleaning for your skin

4 Bad Habits and How to Fix Them Dr. Marci Pepine, a board certified dermatologist at Adult and Pediatric Dermatology in Lakeland and a Polk County Medical Association member, has certainly seen her share of skin related problems and needs. What strikes hardest for her is that so many of the problems she encounters are…
Put your body into it!

Bodyweight Training: A Tool to Getting the Athletic Look While Feeling Better Everybody would like a body that is more flexible and athletic, but what if the way to attain that body could be done with simple exercises and very little equipment? One of the newest workout trends to emerge is bodyweight training, exercises that…
Love the skin you’re in: Protect it from cancer

Sun-Safe Measures and Early Detection Make a Difference Jean Tayntor is sometimes called the Cookie Lady because of the cookies she passes around while volunteering at the Lakeland Regional Cancer Center. But 72-year-old Tayntor serves more than tasty treats— she offers hope. Tayntor is a cancer survivor. Diagnosed 10 years ago with melanoma, the most…

Editor’s Dose: Tips for minimizing back-to-school stress

IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, then come early July you were already thinking about preparations for the new school year. Parents and children in the community this year are getting ready extra early because Polk County public schools moved up their calendar by one week — day one of school is August 15.
Making the choice to breastfeed

THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH in Polk County (DOH-Polk) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) recognize August as Breastfeeding Awareness Month. This is a wonderful time of year to promote breastfeeding as a vital health activity and discuss the health benefits breastfeeding provides. Although every woman has their own…
Editor’s Dose: Keeping kids’ bodies and minds active this summer

WHEN I FIRST had the twins, my mom would say, “Have a schedule for them, or they’ll have a schedule for you.” Basically, she was cautioning that I’d better keep those little minds and bodies active, or chaos would inevitably ensue. Being a mother of eight children, I think she was speaking from personal experience.…