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A Strong Health Team Can Help Detect, Mitigate Birth Defects

by TERESA SCHIFFER Sponsored by Central Florida Health Care January is National Birth Defects Awareness Month, a time for discussions about how different birth defects can affect individuals over the course of their lifespan, and what can be done to minimize the risk of these occurrences. It’s important to understand that the term “birth defect”…
Pop Quiz: Trust Your Gut

How Much Do You Know About Microbiomes and Your Digestive Health? Did you know that some kinds of bacteria are actually beneficial to have in your digestive tract? While it may sound counterintuitive, certain strains of bacteria — like lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria, which make up your gut microbiome — offer a host of benefits for…
Funding the Future of Nursing

AdventHealth to Provide $1.7 Million for Polk State Program story and photos by PAUL CATALA Since 1965, Polk State College has instructed, encouraged, and placed about 21,500 students into successful nursing careers. On average, 430 nurses graduate from the school’s nursing college each year. Now that program will have even more to offer thanks to…

All about Allergies

Whether you call it seasonal allergies, allergic rhinitis or hay fever, it affects millions of people worldwide and is very common. There are 2 main types of allergic rhinitis: Seasonal allergies (hay fever): Caused by an allergy to pollen and/or mold spores in the air. Pollen, is comes from t flowering plants and is carried…
Lake Wales Medical Center’s Golden Care Unit is filling a need for behavioral health care specifically aimed at seniors.

When an elderly parent starts hearing music that isn’t there, or seeing objects that aren’t there, it can be perplexing. Reading the signs can be difficult: is it a side effect to a new medication, or something more ominous? Whether it’s hallucinations, early signs of Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, or another behavioral health…
What is the Annual Wellness Visit?

by DR. JEFFREY EPSTEIN You may be wondering what exactly an Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) is, or why you need one. After all, this is not something you have had done at your yearly physical with your doctor. Yet, as you age, this becomes an important part of your healthcare routine. Consider this. Think of…