Health News

Features

Making choices that lower your risk

How African-Americans Can Avoid High Blood Pressure Hypertension (or high blood pressure) is a heavy weight that the African-American community has been destined to cope with. While no one is immune from high blood pressure, it is a proven fact that the African-American population has a 40 percent higher rate over any other ethnic group…
Talking to your teen can make a difference

New Data Reveals Teen Pregnancy Rates Have Fallen in Polk County For the past decade, the teen pregnancy rate in Polk County has been among the top in Florida, but the latest figures show the rate has dropped. “Community partnerships and civil dialogue has worked to lower teen pregnancy,” says Dr. Daniel Haight, director of…
Kicking the smoking habit for good

A resolution easier said than done, but not impossible With the holidays behind us, we stand at the threshold of another New Year. In an effort to improve our lives over the next 12 months, we’ll make resolutions that if achieved would make a difference for the better. If yours is to get healthy, fantastic!…

Protect Your Joints and Help Your Golf Game

Many people injure themselves simply because they do not stretch. A survey showed that more than half of the golfers who warmed up for 10 minutes or more before golfing had fewer than half the injuries than those who did not warm up. Another cause of injuries is the fact that golf is a repetitive…
Diagnosis and Treatment of Shingles

Shingles is a contagious virus (varicella zoster) that results in a painful rash. The virus that causes the rash is one of nine known herpes viruses to infect humans. It is the same virus that causes chickenpox. After having chickenpox, typically as a child, the virus lies dormant in nerve tissue underneath the skin.…
Understanding Metastatic Bone Disease

Cancer is always a frightening diagnosis, and knowing that the disease can spread from one part of the body to others can be unsettling. Metastasis occurs when cancer cells from the original (primary) tumor break away and move to other parts of the body. When the cancer spreads from the primary tumor into bone tissue,…