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Take Charge of Your Health This Breast Cancer Awareness Month

by RYAN MILEJCZAK Sponsored by Central Florida Health Care October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and though it’s widely recognized, its message remains crucial. But breast cancer isn’t the only women’s health concern that gets the spotlight in October. The month is also Menopause Awareness Month. To learn more about these issues, we reached out…
Pop Quiz! Demystifying the Breast Cancer Self-Exam

When it comes to cancer, early detection is key; for breast cancer, this means breast self-exams and mammograms are a must. Self-exams are part of the toolkit for early detection as Johns Hopkins maintains that 40 percent of breast cancer cases are first detected by women who felt a lump during a self-exam. Take our…
Bigger & Better

New Lakeland VA Clinic Increases Access to Care for Nearly 49,000 by PAUL CATALA For five years, Jeffrey Mann of Bartow has had to drive about 45 miles each way to Tampa for his medical needs. But now, Mann only has to drive about 11 miles to see his doctors and nurses and get medical…

The Heart of the Matter: Recommendations from the USPSTF for low-dose aspirin use

LOW-DOSE ASPIRIN has long been a therapy for those with a risk of cardiovascular disease, and studies have shown it to be effective at lowering the risk of colorectal cancer as well. However, aspirin also has been shown to have health dangers, such as increasing the risk for bleeding in the stomach and intestines and…
Healthy Cook: Adding on calories when your senior loved one is too thin

BEING A FEW POUNDS overweight can be a pain in the patootie. That can often be solved by using the simple food equation: calories in versus calories out. On the other hand, people who are too slim and can’t gain weight often have no patootie to speak of. Their challenge of putting on a few…
Surgery Facts: Answering the question: ‘Doc, do I need my gallbladder?’

AS A SURGEON, I am asked this question all the time, usually right after I inform a patient that their abdominal pain is due to gallstones. There is an aura of mystery surrounding this little green organ, with a lot of folks unclear as to its exact role in our bodies and our health. Gallbladder…