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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…
A Hero’s Heart

Bartow Regional Nurse Talks About a Familiar Profession in an Unfamiliar Time by TERESA SCHIFFER For over a year now, our medical personnel have been on the front lines of an unprecedented battle, fighting a new type of enemy in the form of the novel coronavirus that we now call COVID-19. While researchers having been…
A Growing Healthcare Challenge

Nurse Staffing Study Provides Insight Into Shortage Across U.S. and Florida by HEATHER MACHOVINA The Avant Healthcare Professionals 2021 Trends in Nurse Staffing Study analyzes the status of registered nurse (RN) job vacancies in the U.S. and the overall welfare of RN staff. It evaluates the training of new nurses, compares the costs of outsourcing…

Smoking Hurts More Than Your Lungs

I cannot really believe that the holidays are upon us already. This year has been like no other with its usual mix of pain and pleasure. I would like to take this opportunity to emphasize the role of lifestyle in the management of vascular disease that can lend a sense of control in its otherwise…
What Is Age-Related Macular Degeneration, or AMD?

by NADER MOINFAR, M.D., M.P.H. Geographic atrophy (GA) is an advanced form of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In general, AMD is a disease that progresses in stages. Patients with advanced AMD experience vision loss from either excess ﬂuid and blood (wet AMD) or the death of cells (GA). It is estimated that 1.5 million…
Understanding Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

An aneurysm is a “weakening” or “dilatation” in a part of an artery. An estimated 15,000 people die of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) every year in the US. About 200,000 new cases of AAA are diagnosed every year. Most of these are diagnosed by tests that are done for unrelated reasons. The aorta is…