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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…

What Is Age-Related Macular Degeneration, or AMD?

by NADER MOINFAR, M.D., M.P.H. Geographic atrophy (GA) is an advanced form of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In general, AMD is a disease that progresses in stages. Patients with advanced AMD experience vision loss from either excess ﬂuid and blood (wet AMD) or the death of cells (GA). It is estimated that 1.5 million…
Understanding Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

An aneurysm is a “weakening” or “dilatation” in a part of an artery. An estimated 15,000 people die of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) every year in the US. About 200,000 new cases of AAA are diagnosed every year. Most of these are diagnosed by tests that are done for unrelated reasons. The aorta is…
The Future Is Clear: The Shift to Daily Disposable Contact Lenses

by DANIEL SMITH, O.D. Contact lenses offer a wonderful alternative to traditional eyeglasses, providing wearers with a range of unique benefits that suit various lifestyles. They offer a natural, unobstructed field of vision, and the absence of frames on the face may be highly beneficial, especially during physical activities where glasses may pose a risk…