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Tip-Top Shape at Any Age

Proper Focus and Mindset Can Help Men Stay Fit and Healthy Over the Decades By PAUL CATALA For the average man, the body is in its best physical shape in the early to mid-20s. But time can take a toll by age 30, when muscle strength starts to decrease by as much as 3…
Pop Quiz: When Silence Isn’t Golden: Is Tinnitus What You’re Hearing?

Our hearing is an important part of our five senses, but we don’t often think about it until something goes awry. One way your hearing could be disrupted is through the onset of tinnitus, a condition where the sufferer hears a phantom sound such as ringing or other noises in one or both ears that…
Prime Time for Ticks

Learn How to Protect Yourself From Lyme Disease by TIM CRAIG May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month, and as the warmer weather brings more family trips outdoors, now is a good time to be reminded about this tricky disease and how to protect yourself against it. Lyme disease is one of the most common…

Editor’s Dose: Tips for minimizing back-to-school stress

IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, then come early July you were already thinking about preparations for the new school year. Parents and children in the community this year are getting ready extra early because Polk County public schools moved up their calendar by one week — day one of school is August 15.
Making the choice to breastfeed

THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH in Polk County (DOH-Polk) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) recognize August as Breastfeeding Awareness Month. This is a wonderful time of year to promote breastfeeding as a vital health activity and discuss the health benefits breastfeeding provides. Although every woman has their own…
Editor’s Dose: Keeping kids’ bodies and minds active this summer

WHEN I FIRST had the twins, my mom would say, “Have a schedule for them, or they’ll have a schedule for you.” Basically, she was cautioning that I’d better keep those little minds and bodies active, or chaos would inevitably ensue. Being a mother of eight children, I think she was speaking from personal experience.…