Content about Health

A large-scale genomic analysis found that non-inherited mutations in hundreds of genes together account for about 1 in 10 cases of severe congenital heart defects. The findings bring us closer to understanding the most common type of birth defect.

National EMS Week provides an opportunity to honor the men and women who serve on the front line of pre-hospital emergency medical care—telecommunicators, paramedics and emergency medical technicians. “EMS: One Mission … One Team” is this year’s theme. As part of National EMS Week, the Lake County Board of County Commissioners will recognize the contribution of EMS professionals by issuing a proclamation which will be presented at the regular Board meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 21 in the Board Chambers of the Lake County Administration Building, 315 W. Main St., Tavares.

Florida Senate President Don Gaetz (R-Niceville) released the following statement regarding Florida TaxWatch releasing their 2013 Turkey Watch Report.

“The TaxWatch list is built on the unconstitutional perversion that if an appropriation isn't recommended by unelected agency officials it shouldn't be considered in conference by elected legislators.  This is an arrogance of the elite who spend too much time in Tallahassee and Washington listening to the echoes of their own invented wisdom and thinking they're hearing the voice of God.

A study of public pools done during last summer’s swim season found that feces are frequently introduced into pool water by swimmers.  Through the study, released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), researchers found germs in samples of pool filter water collected from public pools.

Adding omega-3 fatty acids did not improve a combination of nutritional supplements commonly recommended for treating age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a major cause of vision loss among older Americans, according to a study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The plant-derived antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin also had no overall effect on AMD when added to the combination; however, they were safer than the related antioxidant beta-carotene, according to the study published online today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The Lake County Health Department is reminding residents about healthy and safe swimming behaviors which should be practiced year-round.  Every year, thousands of Americans get sick with recreational water illnesses (RWIs), which are caused by germs found in places where we swim. The goal of RWII Prevention Week is to raise awareness about healthy and safe swimming.

In May, Healthy Vision Month, the National Eye Institute (NEI) calls on Americans to make their vision a priority by taking the necessary steps to protect vision, prevent vision loss, and make the most of the vision they may have remaining.

The major development involved the furloughs of FAA employees.  To make a long story short, the sequestration cuts which have been imposed across the government have been implemented by the Obama administration in a way that will make the pain the most severe and the most obvious.  One of the earliest signs of that was when the administration announced that they were cancelling White House tours indefinitely.  They didn’t have to do that.

Seniors must learn to protect themselves—and not just from scam artists and fall-related injuries. We’re talking the same kind of protection you hear so much about on college campuses. Yes. That protection.

Every 20 seconds, a child dies from a disease that could be prevented with a safe and effective vaccine. Millions more children survive, but are left severely disabled. Vaccines have the power not only to save, but also transform lives by protecting against disease – giving children a chance to grow up healthy, go to school, and improve their lives.  Vaccination campaigns sometimes provide the only contact with health care services that children receive in their early years of life.

"As the experts turn the pages of President Obama's health care mega-law, they learn only one thing for certain: it is a baffling behemoth of a bill that causes consternation and concern," according to Dan Weber, president of the Association of Mature American Citizens. "In fact," he said, "the law may crumble under its own weight."

Although teen birth rates have been falling for the last two decades, more than 365,000 teens, ages 15–19, gave birth in 2010. Teen pregnancy and childbearing can carry high health, emotional, social, and financial costs for both teen mothers and their children.