Angelina Jolie's decision draws praise from Tampa Bay patients, physicians

TAMPA — Just last week, Terri Comeau completed the grueling surgeries she has needed since making up her mind to have her healthy breasts removed to prevent cancer.

"It's a tough decision to remove your breasts, the toughest decision I've ever made. But it also was the most logical thing to do," said the 29-year-old Lutz wife, mother and sales analyst.

That kind of deeply personal decision on Tuesday became a topic of national conversation when Angelina Jolie revealed that she, too, underwent a preventive double mastectomy and reconstruction. Like Comeau, the Oscar-winning actress has a genetic mutation that sharply increases a woman's risk of breast and ovarian cancer....

Cancer survivor excited to run Miles for Moffitt

Kathee Johnson has been losing weight and working out. She feels good. She likes what she sees in the mirror.

But what is reflected is not just thinner thighs or more pronounced cheekbones.

"Finally, I'm looking in the mirror and seeing myself,'' she told me. "I haven't seen me for a long time.''

Kathee, a 43-year-old wife, homeschooling mother of five and public school tutor, hasn't just been waging the weight war....

This triathlete wasn't born, he was made

Seven years ago, Dan Inglima, 32 years old and 250 pounds, was on the sidelines at the St. Anthony's Triathlon in St. Petersburg, cheering for his sister-in-law.

"I'd never seen a triathlon,'' he told me this week. "I had chills running up and down my arms. I said, 'This is something I want to do.' ''

He went out to run a mile and found he couldn't even make it out of his Clearwater neighborhood. But he kept at it. Soon, he could go a mile without stopping. Then two, then three....

Tracking food intake irritating, but can lead to weight loss

From an actual email exchange with Times staff writer Irene Maher, after I edited her cover story today on Weight Watchers' 50th anniversary:

Me: I'm thinking of writing a column about Weight Watchers and how much I generally love it but HATE tracking. Is that too cranky of me?

Irene: Man up! Tracking is the reason it works! I swear by it, even without WW telling me to do it....

Another nonsurgical option for plantar fasciitis

Whether your goal is to run a marathon, take up yoga, get serious about your heart health, or anything else you've been putting off, you'll likely hear this piece of encouragement from some well-meaning person: • Just take the first step. • But what if the first step you take every day has you hobbling in pain?

Back in October, we devoted our cover story to common foot problems that keep athletes and exercisers sidelined. ...

Parenting a child who needs to lose weight

A couple of years ago, Dara-Lynn Weiss set out to do something that health experts have urged millions of American moms and dads to do: help her obese child lose weight.

At nearly 4 feet 5 and 93 pounds, then-7-year-old Bea would hardly rate a second-glance from Jerry Springer. But her pediatrician declared she was in the 98th percentile for weight related to height, placing her within the definition of pediatric obesity....

Setting goals is just natural for some

There are basically two camps when it comes to New Year's resolutions: Those who make them and those who don't.

I've long been a devoted resolver. But now, with just days before 2013 dawns, I'm reconsidering.

Not because I have given up hope. And certainly not because I need no improvement.

Fact is, I make resolutions all the time. Probably every day. Several times a day, even....

Do yourself, and others, a favor and get that flu shot

If you had the chance to ask the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention what keeps him up at night, you might expect to hear a made-for-Hollywood litany of horrors.

Perhaps a mysterious new virus in the public water system. Or drug-resistant, flesh-eating bacteria sweeping the nation's hospitals. Maybe airline passengers importing Ebola.

Recently, I was among a group from the Association of Health Care Journalists that posed that very question to Dr. Thomas Frieden, who met with us during our visit to the world-famous institution in Atlanta....

Push-up challenge a simple way to get in shape

Before we go any further, please set this column aside for just a moment and hit the floor. Time to do some pushups.

Women, you're on your knees. Men, on your toes. Do as many as you can without stopping before your arms turn to rubber.

Whew. Glad that's over. How'd you do?

On average, a 40-year-old American woman should be able to do 16; for men that age, it's 27. By age 60, it's 6 for women, 17 for men....

Can chocolate kill dogs? This corgi got lucky

As we were putting together today's issue of Personal Best, something of a theme developed: the nobility of dogs.

Our cover subject, Nicole Johnson, shared not only her terrific diabetes-friendly recipes, but also her latest and furriest weapon against the disease. Lucy the labradoodle is learning to detect when Nicole's blood sugar levels are plummeting, saving her from a crisis.

And columnist Bob Clark, who occasionally sends me videos of his amazing skateboarding dogs, has contributed a great rundown of the many health benefits dogs add to our lives....