Health News

Features

Pop Quiz! Beware of Interactions Between Medications and Herbal Supplements

July is Herbal/Prescription Interaction Awareness Month, and it’s time to talk about some common interactions between herbal supplements and prescriptions or over-the-counter medications. Most people will take at least one prescription medication in their lives, and some estimates maintain that about 70 percent of those age 60 and older take at least one herbal medication…
Vitiligo Vigilance

Protection Is Key During Florida’s Intense Summers by PAUL CATALA Not long after Tonja Johnson was diagnosed, she knew her days out in the direct summer sun were, for the most part, over. In 2013, Johnson was living in Lakeland and working as a program manager for the Hillsborough County Department of Health. It was…
New Face at Winter Haven Hospital

Chief Medical Officer Brings Optimism, Drive to BayCare Facility by TERESA SCHIFFER BayCare’s Winter Haven Hospital welcomed new Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Davidyock on May 31. Davidyock is board-certified in internal medicine and hails from eastern Pennsylvania, near Lehigh Valley in the Philadelphia region, where he had been practicing medicine for about 15 years.…

Pancreatic Cancer update

National Research and Local Alliance Efforts Keep Hope from Being Blown Away John Rodda was sitting to dinner with his wife, Becky, when she noticed his eyes were bright yellow. Although he’d had a horrible stomachache a couple of weeks earlier, they didn’t realize it was anything serious. Unknown to them, the Lakeland-based commercial contractor had…
Healthy Cook: Keep calm and cook on

There is too much going on . . . the holidays to cook for . . . Grandma and the bratty cousins to buy for . . . the new puppy will probably knock the tree over (if the cat doesn’t climb it first) . . . Take a deep breath, go relax in a…
PCMA Letter: Working for your health

The Polk County Medical Association (PCMA), its members and affiliates, are constantly working for the betterment of health in the community. The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates once said, “Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity.” At the PCMA, we take the opportunity to heal pretty seriously, which…