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Pop Quiz: Crash Course on Caffeine

Caffeine plays a big role in the lives of many Americans, with coffee, tea, caffeinated soda, energy drinks, and energy shots being some people’s daily go-to drinks. However, few actually stop to consider how much caffeine they are consuming every day or how that caffeine can affect their health. Test your knowledge with our pop…
Touched by Type 1

Health Advocate Fulfilling Dream of Helping Youth With Type 1 Diabetes by TERESA SCHIFFER It can be overwhelming for both the parents and the child when a child is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Careful monitoring of the diet and signs of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) become a primary daily concern, and the child is…
Let Food Be Thy Medicine

A Dietician’s Guidance Can Help You Make the Best of Your Health by PAMELA PALONGUE “Let food be thy medicine…” It’s funny how the wise words of the ancient physician Hippocrates still ring true today, some 2,500 years later. Beyond the DNA we’re born with, the three great influencers of overall health are sleep, exercise…

Medical Advice: Your flu prevention to-do list

AS YOU GATHER your “to-do” lists and prepare for the holiday season ahead, the Florida Department of Health in Polk County recommends you add one more important step — get a flu shot! The flu shot is the best way to protect our families and communities against the spread of influenza. When you make it…
Family Health: Flu shots for seniors

HE FLU is nothing to sneeze at. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 200,000 people will be hospitalized this year with the influenza virus, and it has been estimated that 50 to 70 percent of those hospitalized are people age 65 and older.
Word of Mouth: Your dentist is key to early cancer detection

IT SEEMS LIKE you hear about many different kinds of cancers these days, but one that isn’t being talked about enough is oral cancer. Cancer in the mouth and throat are diagnosed in nearly 50,000 Americans a year, and statistics show that only 57 percent of those diagnosed still will be living in five years.