Comprehensive Testing Now Available for Heart Disease Screening Looking for a heart disease specialist? If you’re considering screening for heart disease and you live in or near Tampa, Fl., here’s what we want you to know. Recognizing that heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, Quest Diagnostics acquired Cleveland HeartLab to establish the Cardiometabolic Center of Excellence — a national organization focused on improving the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. Separately, Cleveland HeartLab pioneered the development of personalized evaluation of heart disease risk based on inflammation and other biological markers, and Quest Diagnostics, a leader in genetic and metabolic testing, created the proprietary Cardio IQ Ion Mobility test for lipid particle analysis. Since the two companies joined forces in December of 2017, they have moved quickly to broaden access to their advanced diagnostic services. During the spring of 2018, Quest made […]
When most of us eat fish at home or choose fish over beef or pork at a restaurant, we think we’re choosing the healthy alternative. After all, fish is a lean, white protein, packed with healthy omega 3 fatty acids along with a broad range of essential vitamins and minerals. Many studies suggest that a diet rich in fish and other seafood may lower the risk of heart attack and stroke; support brain development, health, and function; prevent and treat depression; reduce the risk of autoimmune diseases; prevent asthma in children; improve the quality of sleep; a deliver a host of additional health benefits. Unfortunately, not all fish are safe and healthy to eat, and some we should avoid eating for other reasons — such as poor fisheries management, which can negatively impact the environment, reduce fish populations, and disrupt sensitive food chains. So, which fish should you be eating,
Looking for a mold exposure treatment in Tampa, FL? With 300 million scent receptors in their nostrils (compared to about 6 million in humans) and a portion of their brain devoted to analyzing smells that is 40 times larger than that of humans, dogs are well-equipped to detect even the faintest of scents. No surprise there. Dogs have been put to work since the early days of domestication to help hunters locate prey, and their utility in this area has expanded significantly since then. Today, dogs are being trained to sniff out and detect a variety of items, including the following: Illegal drugs Explosives Lost children Dead/decomposing bodies Illnesses such as cancer, malaria, diabetes, and Parkinson’s disease Bed bugs Fertile cows Invasive pythons SARS-CoV-2 (the novel coronavirus responsible for COVID-19) Toxic mold And when it comes to the last item on the above list, mold-detection dogs may be able to
It seems every month, there’s a new story surfacing about toxic mold in South Florida. Recently, a Pinellas County woman discovered black mold growing in the walls of her new home. Subsequently, she was told that her insurance company was in receivership, further complicating her ability to resolve the issue. At about the same time, tenants at Silver Oaks Apartments in Tampa’s 33610 zip code were preparing to sue management over the mold. We’ve posted extensively about the topic of toxic mold in South Florida. Why all the buzz? Two reasons — toxic mold is common in Florida, and it poses a serious health risk. Our tropical climate provides the perfect breeding grounds for mold, and some of these common molds that grow in homes and other water-damaged buildings can make you seriously ill. In fact, mold can be deadly. Fortunately, we can gain the upper hand over toxic molds
Did you know that poor vagal tone may be the root cause of your chronic health condition? Not sure what it means or refers to? In this post, we share everything you need to know about the vagus nerve and vagal tone. The vagus nerve, also known as the 10th cranial nerve or CN X, is a very long nerve that extends from the brain stem down through the neck and into the chest and abdomen. It provides a communication pathway between the brain and vital organs, including the heart, lungs, esophagus, stomach, intestines, liver, kidneys, and spleen. Your vagus nerve also serves as the control center of the parasympathetic nervous system, which regulates bodily functions when the body is in its rest-and-digest state (as opposed to its fight-or-flight response). You actually have two vagus nerves (left and right), but they’re commonly referred to collectively as “the vagus nerve.” The
Are you starting to think COVID-19 will never go away? Are you afraid that mask mandates, vaccines, and mandatory shutdowns will continue to plague us for the rest of our lives? For people with long-haul COVID, that feeling is far more personal and poignant. For these unfortunate, “never going away” means continuing to struggle with persistent and often debilitating symptoms for months after their immune systems have defeated the virus. A mild to moderate case of COVID-19 typically lasts about two weeks, maximum. Approximately 30 percent of people who get infected show no symptoms. In contrast, about 25–33 percent experience lingering health issues after they’ve recovered from the acute phase of the illness. In other words, they continue to experience symptoms even when the virus is no longer active — when they would test negative for the coronavirus. This syndrome has been described by many names, including: Long-haul COVID-19 Post-acute