Health News

Features

Are You Talking to Me?

Recognizing and Neutralizing Negative Self-Talk by TERESA SCHIFFER As the new year gets underway, there’s always a lot of talk about resolutions. Healthy lifestyles, fewer expletives, diets and procrastination rank up there with the most common goals. This year, how about a different kind of resolution? One that could have a lasting effect on…
Vaccination, Early Detection Key to Fighting Cervical Cancer

by TIM CRAIG Sponsored by Central Florida Health Care January is Cervical Cancer Awareness month, and Central Florida Health Care is spending the month reminding women (and men!) that there are two key factors in fighting this disease: vaccination and early detection. According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 14,480 new cases…
Pop Quiz: Think You Know Thyroid Disorders? Think Again

Weight gain and weight loss are common occurrences in any adult’s lifetime, but unexplained weight fluctuations can be the result of a thyroid problem. Issues with your thyroid can have long-lasting side effects for your health beyond just weight loss or weight gain, so it’s not an issue that you want to ignore. January is…

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…
Myopia Control in the COVID-19 Era

My weekends are admittedly different now. Before my weekends were filled with time spent with friends, in person, but now they are Zoom calls, Brady Bunch style. We hosted our game night online, and we chat while we bake or make dinner. Even at our practice, we are utilizing the ability to work remotely, and…