Health News

Features

Sweets and sour news for kids

Certain Candies Are as Acidic as Battery Acid on Kids’ Teeth Peering into kids’ mouths every day, pediatric dentists have noticed an alarmingly widespread problem of late. Something is eating away at the chewing surfaces of children’s back teeth. Turns out, its worms – gummy worms, that is – along with assorted other sweet-and-sour candies,…
Kristi Yamaguchi speaks out on influenza

Should you get a flu vaccine? Less than half of the U.S. population actually gets the annual flu vaccine. While vaccinations are recommended in late summer or early fall, it’s still beneficial even in the middle of winter. During many flu seasons, influenza activity doesn’t peak until winter or early spring. In fact, virus activity…
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…

Word of Mouth: ‘Wise’ advice for back-to-school oral care

WHILE WISDOM TEETH don’t make you smarter, they do usually come in when you are in your late teens or early 20s — a time when you’re expected to start displaying “wisdom” and maturity. Unfortunately, pain and discomfort from problems with your wisdom teeth can result in a lot of missed days from school —…
PCMA Letter: It’s always a good time to address mental health

IN THIS EDITION (August 2015) of Central Florida Health News, medical experts weigh in on topics to help improve you or a loved one’s mental health. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a staggering one in five Americans will suffer from anxiety or depression in their lifetime.
Publisher’s Note: Depression cases in our local Medicare population

MENTAL ILLNESS can refer to several afflictions that affect the state of our minds, but usually the first one we think of is depression. While clinical depression can be caused by many individual factors (or a combination of several), there are some medical conditions that put a person at greater risk for the disease.