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Beat the Heat

School Guidelines, Practices Keep Student-Athletes Safe by TERESA SCHIFFER The temperatures in Central Florida can soar uncomfortably high, as any native can attest. For kids who have grown up here, it may be tempting to take that heat in stride. Unfortunately, high heat can have potentially life-threatening effects. As school athletics ramp up and the…
Training the Future

South Florida State College’s New Center for Nursing Excellence Takes aim at Nurse Shortage by PAUL CATALA The combination of a new learning environment, updated labs and equipment, and a partnership with area hospitals is what’s anticipated to be the perfect prescription for producing highly skilled nurses. Avon Park’s South Florida State College recently welcomed…
Pop Quiz!

Eyesight Is an Important Part of Your Child’s Back-to-School Kit As children gear up for back-to-school, it’s important to make sure we send them with one of the most important supplies: healthy eyes. Children’s eyes change quickly, so it’s important to watch for small problems to catch them before they become bigger problems. Take our…

Virtual Care for Cardiac Patients

The new coronavirus sweeping the world has changed life as we know it. While there is a lot that we don’t know about the virus, we do know that people with heart and other conditions are more likely to get seriously ill from it. At the same time, all of us are concerned about patients getting…
Health Impacts of Opioid Addiction on Patients

As a spine surgeon, I routinely see various life-threatening consequences of opioid addiction. These could include severe spinal instability and paralysis that develops from infection, that occurs due to intravenous injections of opioids — by patients who are addicted to opioids. These patients typically started by taking that single initial opioid tablet, and quickly developed…
COVID-19 and the Heart

COVID-19 (coronavirus SARS 2) is obviously an infection that primarily affects the lungs. As we know, this is a pandemic that has affected all our lives. Does it have any cardiac issues directly or indirectly? Direct Problems COVID-19 has been known to cause weakening of the heart in some cases. Thankfully this is rare, but…