Take the First-Ever Reader's Choice Survey!
Mar 2010
Vote for your favorites in more than 30 categories, from health care providers to fitness centers to local running events. The Health Journal will run a series of profiles on selected winners in our summer 2010 issues.
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When Studies Collide
Mar 2010Making Sense of Cancer Screening Guidelines
Vivian Vitullo had no reason to be worried when she went for a mammogram at age 40. The Suffolk resident had gone through a scare two years earlier after discovering two lumps in her breasts, but tests had shown no signs of cancer. Without a family history or risk factors for the disease, Vitullo scheduled a mammogram simply because the American Cancer Society recommends annual screenings starting at age 40.
Even after a radiologist saw troubling deposits of calcium in her right breast, Vitullo wasn’t too concerned. But several tests later, she got a diagnosis that shocked her: ductal carcinoma in sit Read More...
Healing Haiti
Mar 2010Two ER doctors reflect on their mission trip to earthquake-stricken Haiti, from the joy of saving three lives to their concerns for the country’s future.
Emergency room doctors Dave Cash of Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center and Charles Graffeo of Sentara Norfolk General Hospital have served together on many a relief mission, from hurricanes and other natural disasters to terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. Their most recent journey, however—a week in quake-stricken Port Au Prince, Haiti—was an unexpected assignment that turned out to be the experience of a lifetime.
As emergency room physicians, Drs. David Cash and Charlie Graffeo are Read More...
Second Opinions May Prevent Regrets
Mar 2010A friend’s misfortune provides a valuable lesson.
My friend Eric was catheterized for no good reason. That’s what sold me on second opinions. We were both in our mid-30s when we were diagnosed with kidney stones. With Eric living in Norfolk and me in Chesapeake, we went to our respective city hospitals in a similar state of extreme pain. But Eric had to further endure both the insertion of a catheter through his urethra, and finally its painful withdrawal, while I slept peacefully under a morphine drip as my kidney stones were sonically broken up by a lithotripsy machine. So was Eric’s epic discomfort the fault of the hospital, or his own?
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Fitness
Make Fitness a Family Affair
Give kids a good start to a healthy life
The growing rate of childhood obesity may very well be America’s number-one public health crisis. In the past 30 years, the number of overweight children has more th Read More...
Cross Over to the Crossover Cables
In most gyms, the most versatile piece of equipment is the cable crossover—yet many people are intimidated by it. The cable crossover is nothing to fear—it’s simply a pulley system attached to a weight stack and is moun Read More...
TONE UP Anywher: Suspension Body Weight Training with the TRX
The TRX (Total Resistance eXercise) suspension training system is new, but it looks and feels old. A simple, low-tech exercise modality—all substance and no flash—it uses straps, a central pivot point and your own body we Read More...
Back to the Basics: 3 Steps to Lasting Weight Loss
If your holiday indulgences are now appearing on the scale, or if years of gradual weight gain have finally caught up with you, then perhaps it’s time to get back to the basics.
Weight loss is simple: burn more calorie Read More...
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Local Beat
A Smarter Way to Shop
Farm Fresh launches ‘nutrition iQ’ labeling system to help
curb customer confusion
It’s well known that the perimeter of the grocery store is the place to find the healthiest foods including fresh pro Read More...
Partners in Practice
In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, The Health Journal brings you stories of local couples who share more than just a marriage—they both work in the medical field, often in the same office. Read what the follow Read More...
Ready to Get Fit?
Find a gym that’s right for you
Fitness experts from across Hampton Roads agree that when it comes to selecting a gym, it’s important that you feel as comfortable there as you do in your sweats and sneakers.
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Creating Smiles
Michael Boyd is the type of person who loves to smile, despite all the medical problems he’s struggled with—a near-death experience related to diabetes, partial amputation of his right foot, blood clots in his leg and a h Read More...