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POP QUIZ: Chest Pain: What Is Your Body Telling You?

Did you know that of the millions of Americans who visit the emergency room with chest every year, only 20 percent are actually diagnosed with a heart attack or other serious heart condition—like unstable angina—and the other 80 percent are suffering with something different? While some instances of chest pain that are unrelated to a…
Keep It Moving

Exercise Is a Must for Good Heart Health by GRACE BOGGESS HIRDES Do you have a health goal for 2020? Maybe you want to lose a few pounds or to eat fewer fatty foods. Have you considered making a health goal to improve your heart’s health? Only one in five Americans gets enough exercise on…
True Transformation

Doctor and Patient Explain Why Bariatric Surgery Is So Much More Than Weight Loss by Matthew Norman The new year often brings thoughts of weight loss. It seems that there are endless numbers of weight loss methods. Everything from the tried and true methods to schemes that seem too good to be true, and probably…

Medical Advice: Back-to-school tips and the 5-2-1-0 program

AS STUDENTS and families prepare to return to school, the Florida Department of Health in Polk County (FDOH-Polk) would like to take this opportunity to remind them to take the proper steps to stay healthy this school year. Good health is important for students in order to maintain regular school attendance and be ready to…
Hospice Help: Hospice myth busting

WHEN MOST PEOPLE hear the word “hospice,” they immediately associate the provided care as being intimately tied to hours, or if lucky, days before death. Then there is also the supposition that hospice is only for cancer patients. These are just two myths that need to be busted when it comes to understanding hospice.
First impressions of our daughter’s new specialist

WE HEARD IT growing up from our mothers all the time, but we didn’t quite understand the true significance of it. As adults, we begin to see the value in making a good first impression. Whether it’s for a job interview, that first parent-teacher meeting, or sitting down with a new doctor, first impressions play…