For epilepsy specialist Jack J. Lin, MD, patient cases don’t come much more rewarding than Thomas Phelan’s. The Irvine boy’s mother had been seeking medical help ever since his staring spells prompted a preschool official to write him off as autistic, destined to live out his life in a group…
A full-body skin exam is a vital tool in screening patients for benign or cancerous lesions they may not see or recognize on their own, says Dr. Janellen Smith. During a skin exam, patients are inspected for any suspicious growths, moles or lesions, says Smith. These scans are often performed…
Kerby Mellott enjoyed being physically active all his life. When he was younger, Kerby loved to play sports. Tall, lean and athletic in his youth, Kerby was a high school state basketball team champion and played for his college’s championship football team. After college, he began steadily gaining weight. A…
When Tiffany Chancheya was born in October 2005, she had a quarter-inch reddish mark on one cheek. Tiffany's parents, Tim and Samay Chancheya, grew worried several months later because the small splotch, later diagnosed as a hemangioma, had darkened and was mushrooming in size. Hemangiomas are birthmarks caused by the…
To many people, the term heart failure conjures up an image of an out-of-the-blue emergency, a heart that has suddenly stopped beating. In reality, heart failure is a process in which the heart muscle becomes so weakened over time that it no longer pumps enough blood to meet the body's…
Wayne Treichel was 62 when his wife convinced him to get an endoscopy and colonoscopy. He didn’t have any symptoms or pain, and was in good health, but his wife knew preventive screening was important. As it turns out, having those exams saved Wayne’s life. His doctor diagnosed him with…
Each year, lung cancer kills nearly 160,000 Americans, more than breast, colorectal, pancreatic and prostate cancers combined. Its incidence rate is among the highest of all cancers, and its five-year survival rate is among the lowest. Despite a lack of research funding, progress is being made, highlighted by treatments being…
When William Sanders felt short of breath while climbing a flight of stairs, he knew something was wrong. Despite his advanced age of 75, he was incredibly active. In fact, William was known to exercise five or six times a week. Gradually, his fitness level started to decline. He couldn’t…
Ke-Qin Hu, MD, is director of Hepatology Services at the H. H. Chao Comprehensive Digestive Disease Center. Board certified in internal medicine, Dr. Hu provides consultation and management services for patients with liver diseases, especially viral hepatitis B and C and cirrhosis. An active clinical investigator, Hu has a long-standing…
Researchers at UCI Health Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic received a $7-million grant from the National Cancer Institute to standardize use of a laser imaging device they had created for better detection and diagnosis of breast cancer in 2003. The investment is now paying off. The researchers reported in…
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