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Winter Haven Doctor Offers TAVR Treatment That Once Required Travel by TERESA SCHIFFER For patients suffering from aortic valve stenosis, there used to be little to nothing that could be done to restore heart health. As little as two decades ago, high-risk patients who experienced this narrowing of the aortic valve opening faced a very…
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…

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…
The Future Is Clear: The Shift to Daily Disposable Contact Lenses

by DANIEL SMITH, O.D. Contact lenses offer a wonderful alternative to traditional eyeglasses, providing wearers with a range of unique benefits that suit various lifestyles. They offer a natural, unobstructed field of vision, and the absence of frames on the face may be highly beneficial, especially during physical activities where glasses may pose a risk…