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Essential health information from local experts

Posted: Mar 11, 2025

Colorectal Cancer: Symptoms, Screening & Treatment

With Colorectal Surgeon Sam Agarwal, MD, FACS, FASCRS

Excluding skin cancer, colorectal cancer is the third most prevalent cancer for both men and women in America. And according to recent studies, it’s a disease affecting more and more young people. However, a concerning characteristic of colorectal cancer is its ability to appear without symptoms at all. Learn more and stay on top of screenings.

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Posted: Mar 4, 2025

From Experiment to Essential

The History of Blood Donation

Like the human body itself, a hospital like SMH-Sarasota or SMH-Venice needs a healthy blood flow to function properly. In fact, blood donations play a crucial role in helping physicians treat all sorts of patients. But what is now an everyday aspect of modern healthcare was once the cutting edge—where great discoveries are made and, sometimes, things get a little messy.

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Posted: Feb 25, 2025

Can Red Tide Make You Sick?

With SMH Pulmonary Disease Specialist Kirk Voelker, MD

Red tide is on the rise in Sarasota County, leaving dead fish and marine life littering beaches and carrying foul-smelling breezes up to a mile inland. The return of the Karenia brevis red tide has certainly put a damper on summer plans for beach days and boating. But what are red tide's health effects? Should we skip the beach during blooms? Is it safe to swim in red tide waters? SMH Pulmonary Disease Specialist Kirk Voelker, MD, offers answers.

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Posted: Feb 18, 2025

The Team Using TAVR to Solve Heart Valve Failure

If the heart is your body’s engine, these cardiac specialists are your own personal F1 pit crew.

The human heart beats about 100,000 times a day. It’s a lot of hard work, and a lot of room for something to go wrong. At the Sarasota Memorial Structural Heart & Valve Clinic, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is one of the many techniques used to keep hearts healthy.

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Posted: Feb 11, 2025

Broken Heart Syndrome… Fact or Fiction?

Spoiler Alert: It’s very real.

Dying from a broken heart isn’t something invented by the movies. As mysterious as it is rare, broken heart syndrome is a beguiling condition and a strong argument for the direct connection between mental health and physical health.

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