In the News

Your Health Is in Your Hands Welcome to the spring edition of InHealth! Our cover story talks about primary care and how to choose a physician. This is an important aspect of patient care that is often overlooked. Many of us react to healthcare instead of managing it. For example, we might wait until we get sick to seek healthcare — which often means a trip to the emergency department or urgent care center. Managing our care when we are well helps reduce the anxiety and cost when we do get ill. Primary care physicians serve as the “gatekeepers” for our health. They know the healthcare system and help us navigate it when we need it. It is an important relationship based on trust between the patient and doctor. Read the article for some tips on choosing the right primary care physician for you! Also, be sure to join us at our Open House for our outpatient center — Inova Alexandria Hospital at Mark Center — on April 4 at 5 p.m. See the back page for more information. Best,     Christine M. Candio, RN, FACHE, Chief Executive Officer, Inova Alexandria Hospital

Safe Lifting
Practice the Right Techniques to Protect Your Back

Remember that time you lifted that heavy box and, ouch! You felt that strange sensation in your back. Lifting objects incorrectly could lead to back pain or other more serious problems.

Here are some tips to lift safely and protect your back:

• To learn more about options in treating back and neck pain, join Inova Spine Institute experts on April 24 at 7 p.m. at Inova Alexandria Hospital. Call 1-855-My-Inova (694-6682) or go here to register. Ali Ganjei, MD Physiatrist Corey Wallach, MD Spine Surgeon   Tanuja Mainkar, MD Anesthesiologist

  Test your load before you lift it.
  Push the object lightly with your
  hands or feet to see how easily it
  moves. A small size does not
  necessarily mean a light load.
  
• Make sure the load is packed
  correctly. The weight should be
  balanced and packed so it doesn’t
  move around.
  
• Get a good grip. Make sure you
  have a tight grip before you lift the
  object. A handle may help.
  
• Reach the load easily. Use a ladder
  when you’re lifting something over
  your head. Get close to the load.
  Try not to strain to reach it.
  
• Pick up the load the right way.
  Use slow and smooth movements.
  Keep your body facing the object
  while you lift it.
  

Twisting while lifting can hurt your back.
Keep the load close to your body, and
try to carry the load in the space between your shoulder and your waist.

Back in Business
Learn more about protecting your
back here.


Protect Your Prostate
Health Tips to Avoid Common
Conditions

Prostate problems are common
in men no matter what their age. Common afflictions include prostatitis, when the prostate becomes inflamed or irritated; erectile dysfunction; enlarged prostate, also known as BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia); and prostate cancer. While men can’t always avoid these problems, there are ways they can change their lifestyle to keep their prostate healthy. Here are a few:

	Learn more about prostate health with Jeffrey Wong, MD, urologist, and Sandeep Bagla, MD, interventional radiologist, on May 23 at 6 p.m. at Inova Alexandria Hospital. Call 1-855-My-Inova (694-6682) or visit to register. Jeffrey Wong, MD Sandeep Bagla, MD

Exercise regularly. It helps increase oxygen and blood circulation throughout
our bodies, including the prostate.
Exercise helps to avoid fat tissue that
contains toxins that are excreted into
our bodies. As we get older, exercise
helps improve sexual performance.

Maintain a healthy diet. This includes
zinc, which is found in chocolate, seeds,
oysters and certain meats — low-fat
roast beef, lamb and veal liver. Omega 3
fatty acids, found in fish oil, are also
good for the prostate. Also, drink lots
of water each day to eliminate toxins.
Avoid overconsumption of alcohol and
other prostate irritators: black tea,
coffee and greasy foods.

Keep warm. Cold aggravates and
worsens prostate conditions. Dress warmly on a cold day and take warm baths or showers. Get your checkup. Make sure to keep up-to-date with yearly doctor appointments and thorough exams.

Strong Skeletons
Eat Right and Exercise to Improve Bone Health

Increasing bone density is something we can work on at any age — and we should, since strong bones decrease our risk of bone fractures as older adults.

Developing our bones begins in childhood. The average woman acquires most of her skeletal bone mass by age 20. A person with high bone mass as a young adult will be more likely to have a higher bone mass later in life. This means less risk of developing osteoporosis, a disease of the skeletal system characterized by low bone mass and deterioration of bone tissue.

The keys to developing and maintaining healthy bones are a calcium-rich diet and exercise. Good sources of calcium are dairy products, which include low-fat or nonfat milk, cheese and yogurt; dark-green leafy vegetables, such as bok choy and broccoli; calcium-fortified foods, such as orange juice, cereal, bread, soy beverages and tofu products; and nuts. Vitamin D helps to absorb calcium, so look for products fortified with the vitamin.
Recommended calcium intakes for people 51 and older are 1,200 milligrams a day.

In addition to proper nutrition, regular physical activity has been associated with strong bones. Weight-bearing activity helps children reach peak bone mass and prevents falling in older adults. Examples of weight-bearing physical activities include walking, jogging or running; tennis or racquetball; stair climbing; dancing; hiking; jumping rope; and weight lifting.

So what are you waiting for? Grab that glass of milk on your way to the office — and try taking the stairs instead of
the elevator.

Not Your Ordinary Ambulance
Vehicle Geared for Transport of Children

A new pediatric critical care transport ambulance at Inova will allow critically sick children in the region to receive emergency transfers. The only vehicle of its kind in the region, the Pediatric/Neonatal Critical Care Transport Ambulance contains specialized care capabilities. Its large size allows for the transport of two children or a parent and a child with complex conditions. “This new transport ambulance will provide a crucial service for the critically ill pediatric patients who require the higher level of care available at Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children,” notes Christine Candio, CEO, Inova Alexandria Hospital.

Open House

Left to right: Tammy Lamb, MD, radiologist; Sara Bloom Bruce, MD, fellowship-trained breast surgeon; and Ami Bhavsar, RN, breast care navigator; from the Inova Breast Care Institute and Inova Advanced Imaging Center at Inova Alexandria Hospital at Mark Center

Please join us as we celebrate the grand opening of Inova Alexandria Hospital at Mark Center, our new outpatient center, on April 4 at 5 p.m. The center is home to Inova Internal Medicine, Inova Breast Care Institute and the Inova Advanced Imaging Center. Tour the center, meet our staff and learn about services available close to home. We are located at 1800 North Beauregard Street in Alexandria (next to Clyde’s Restaurant).

Left to right: Ray Shabti, MD, Z Chris, MD, and Nanako Broughton, MD, with Inova Internal Medicine at Mark Center