When 43-year-old Dana Agamalian learned she was pregnant, she felt elated. When, at 18 weeks, she felt her twins’ first kicks, she thought she was having a heaven-sent pregnancy. Those kicks turned out to be early contractions. Agamalian soon found herself confined to 24-hour bed rest at a Newport Beach…
The UC Irvine H.H. Chao Comprehensive Digestive Disease Center (CDDC) is one of the few facilities in the nation—and the only one in Orange County—that provides a full spectrum of care specifically for patients with digestive diseases. A multidisciplinary team of specialists led by gastroenterologist Dr. Kenneth Chang delivers leading-edge…
Jonathan Barber, a 43-year-old certified public accountant from Tustin, Calif., struggled with being overweight most of his life. He even called himself a “chubby” kid. In high school Jonathan was able to manage his weight for a short period of time by playing baseball. After graduating high school, Jonathan went…
Dr. John A. Butler, surgical director of the Breast Health Center at UC Irvine Medical Center, attends patients at the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, Orange County's only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center. Butler also actively conducts cancer research. His work focuses on investigating and developing more effective technologies…
All too often, many of the nearly 8,000 Orange County residents who have a stroke each year experience warning signs that go unrecognized. This results in delaying measures that can save lives and greatly reduce long-term disability. "Studies show that immediate treatment in the early stages of a stroke can…
The facts are alarming: Almost 50 percent of people who die suddenly from a heart attack had no prior symptoms. Many others with serious cardiovascular risk factors aren’t aware of them—or feel powerless to change long-entrenched habits that weaken their heart. The Preventive Cardiology Program at UC Irvine Medical Center…
Fifteen-year-old Bailey Prince had been battling ongoing depression since the sixth grade. Medications were not helping and, after seeing several different psychiatrists, she was only getting worse. After one doctor switched her medication, she couldn’t sleep so on top of being depressed, she was also sleep deprived. “We were really…
Growing up in Tokyo, Dr. Shuichi Suzuki was well aware of the destruction that stroke can cause. Stroke was Japan’s No. 1 cause of death at the time. He knew neighbors who died of stroke, was aware of others who suffered life-changing disabilities, and saw how the disease affected not…
Bariatric surgery is an increasingly popular way to treat morbid obesity. More than 170,000 Americans undergo the surgery each year, 10 times more than in the mid-1990s. Two recent studies by UC Irvine Medical Center surgeons compared the outcome, quality of life and cost of the two most performed procedures…
As a specialist in skin disorders and cancers, UC Irvine dermatologist Dr. Janellen Smith sees firsthand what too much sun can do. Sun exposure is the No. 1 cause of premature aging; it can also be deadly. Each year, more than one million Americans are diagnosed with skin cancer, the…
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