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The Heart of the Matter

Area Physicians Weigh In on ECGs for Student Athletes by PAUL CATALA As the school year ramps up, parents are busy lining up appointments so their student athletes can get their sports physicals. Over the past decade, there’s been increased interest in the incorporation of electrocardiogram heart screenings in these physicals. An electrocardiogram, or ECG,…
When Heroes Need Help

New Initiative Seeks to Connect Veterans and First Responders With Mental Health Resources by RYAN MILEJCZAK A new initiative here in Central Florida seeks to help veterans and first responders struggle with mental health challenges. The Heroes Wellness Collective, launched by Lake Wales-based Operation Recovery, seeks to create a centralized, online platform that connects veterans…
A Different Kind of First Aid

Peace River Center Offers Mental Health First Aid by REBEKAH PIERCE An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This timeless adage is something we think about often when it comes to our physical health, but not necessarily what’s going on inside our heads. Yet the reality is that, in 2024, mental health…

Ask a Nurse: The evolution of modern medicine

Did you know that an anesthesiologist (the doctor that puts you to sleep and keeps you alive during surgery) wasn’t even considered a field or specialty in medicine until 1941!1 Could you imagine undergoing surgery without anesthesia? Barbaric! Thoracic surgery (chest surgery) wasn’t approved until 1970, and bariatric (obesity) medicine has yet to become an official…
Medical Advice: Avoiding mosquitoes and chikungunya virus

I was first introduced to a disease known as chikungunya during my medical training. Initially, I dismissed this foreign illness as something I would probably not see in my career. Chikungunya was originally found in Asia, Africa, and the islands of the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific. This changed on December 2013, when there was…
Editor’s Dose: Adventures with school physicals!

It’s school physical time already! Am I the only one who feels like summer went by way too fast? Maybe it’s because “time flies when you’re having fun.” Or, maybe it’s because time flies when you have four kids . . . maybe it’s a combination of both. Either way, our house is in full…