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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…

A Watery Dry Eye

A Paradox Gritty, sandy, scratchy… watery? Can all those words be used to describe dry eyes? In short, yes! Dry Eye Syndrome is a mystery for patients because the symptoms can be variable! Paradoxical Dry Eye is what eye doctors call Dry Eye Syndrome in patients whose main symptom is constant tearing. So, grab your…
The Link Between Obesity, Vascular Disease

Loving ourselves and taking care of our health to prevent or delay the onset of chronic conditions is an important aspect of our health. This is the fourth part of a series focusing on lifestyle management for the prevention of vascular disease. In previous columns, we’ve addressed smoking cessation, blood pressure regulation, and the…
Hypertension and Vascular Disease

In the previous two issues, we addressed smoking cessation and the importance of sugar control. In this edition, we will look at the role of hypertension in the prevention of vascular disease and how we can make lifestyle choices that can prevent or delay the onset of hypertension. Hypertension, or high blood pressure, affects…