Awareness Month
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Awareness Month is dedicated to raising awareness about important health topics and its impact on the lives of individuals and families of Polk County Florida. Heart to Heart Community Enrichment, Inc. organizes events to create change and build knowledge in the community.

January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month

February is National Heart Health Awareness Month

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Everyone Has a Role in Preventing Sexual Assault
This month is Sexual Assault Awareness Month – a time to help communities understand sexual violence and prevent it using best-available evidence.

What You Need To Know

  • Nearly 1 in 5 women (19%) and 1 in 59 men (nearly 2%) in the U.S. have been raped in their lives. 1 in 15 men have been made to penetrate someone in their lives.
  • Most first-time sexual assaults occur before age 18, making early intervention and prevention efforts critical—for women and men.
  • Sexual Violence Surveillance: Uniform Definitions and Recommended Data Elements can help standardize sexual violence definitions and data to guide prevention.

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April is Autism Awareness Month

May Is Healthy Vision Month

Healthy Vision: Make It Last a Lifetime

Taking care of your vision should be a priority just like eating healthy and being physically active. Healthy vision can help keep you safe when you are driving, while at work, home, or school, participating in sports, or taking part in recreational activities.

The following are some tips to help you protect your vision:

  • Get regular comprehensive dilated eye exams as recommended by your eye care provider.
  • Know your family’s eye health history. It’s important to know if anyone has been diagnosed with an eye disease or condition, because many are hereditary.
  • Eat right to protect your sight, particularly dark leafy greens such as spinach, kale, or collard greens, and fish high in omega-3 fatty acids such as salmon, albacore tuna, trout, and halibut.
  • Maintain a healthy weight.
  • Wear protective eyewear when playing sports or doing activities around the home such as painting, yard work, and home repairs.
  • Quit smoking or never start.
  • Wear sunglasses that block 99%–100% of ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation.
  • Clean your hands prior to taking out contacts and be sure to cleanse your contact lenses properly to avoid the risk of infection.
  • Practice workplace eye safety.

Taking care of your eyes also may benefit your overall health. People with vision problems are more likely than those with good vision to have diabetes, poor hearing, heart problems, high blood pressure, lower back pain and stroke, as well as have increased risk for falls, injury and depression. Among people aged 65 and older, 54.2 percent of those who are blind and 41.7 percent of those with impaired vision say their overall health is fair or poor. Just 21.5 percent of older Americans without vision problems reported fair to poor health.

In addition to your comprehensive dilated eye exams, visit an eye care professional if you have decreased vision; eye pain; drainage or redness of the eye; double vision; or diabetes; or if you see flashes of light, floaters (tiny specks that appear to float before your eyes), or circles (halos) around light sources.

For this Healthy Vision Month, resolve to take care of your eyes to make them last a lifetime.

Source Link: http://www.cdc.gov/Features/HealthyVision


Poisoning Update

U.S. Agency Puts Poison Prevention in Spotlight

Household Products Update

It’s Spring Cleaning Season!

Cholesterol Update

Health Tip: Lower Cholesterol

Pain Relievers Update

Aspirin and Melanoma

Stroke Update

Green Tea, Coffee May Help Lower Stroke Risk

Diets Update
Woman’s Tea Addiction Led to Loss of Teeth, Bone Problems

HIV/AIDS Update
Rapid HIV Treatment Points to “Functional Cure” for AIDS

Breast Cancer Update
For Older Women, Missed Mammograms Tied to Worse Breast Cancer Outcomes
Breast Cancer Death Rates Higher for Black Women
Breast Cancer Gene Tests Won’t Help Most Women
When Breast Cancer Spreads to Lungs, Surgery May Increase Survival

Weight Control Update
Want to Lose Weight? Then Run, Don’t Walk

Heart Diseases–Prevention Update
Heart Diseases–Prevention

Obesity Update
Obesity Does Slow People Down, Study Confirms

May is Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Awareness Month

August is Recognizing National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM)

September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is an annual campaign to increase awareness of the disease. While most people are aware of breast cancer, many forget to take the steps to have a plan to detect the disease in its early stages and encourage others to do the same. We have made a lot of progress but still have a long way to go and need your help!

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