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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…

Pancreatic Cancer update

National Research and Local Alliance Efforts Keep Hope from Being Blown Away John Rodda was sitting to dinner with his wife, Becky, when she noticed his eyes were bright yellow. Although he’d had a horrible stomachache a couple of weeks earlier, they didn’t realize it was anything serious. Unknown to them, the Lakeland-based commercial contractor had…
Healthy Cook: Keep calm and cook on

There is too much going on . . . the holidays to cook for . . . Grandma and the bratty cousins to buy for . . . the new puppy will probably knock the tree over (if the cat doesn’t climb it first) . . . Take a deep breath, go relax in a…
PCMA Letter: Working for your health

The Polk County Medical Association (PCMA), its members and affiliates, are constantly working for the betterment of health in the community. The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates once said, “Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity.” At the PCMA, we take the opportunity to heal pretty seriously, which…