The act of speaking involves a complex chain of events. It begins when air from the lungs travels through the trachea into the larynx (voice box). Here, it passes across two fibrous bands within the larynx called the vocal cords. The action of the passing air makes the vocal cords…
Meeting with a genetic counselor can be very helpful for pregnant patients with a family history of inherited disorders. But the best time to seek a genetic assessment is before conception. This allows couples and individuals the time they need to explore their pregnancy-related options and plan a course of…
John G. Lee, MD, is director of Pancreaticobiliary Services at the H.H. Chao Comprehensive Digestive Disease Center. He is an expert in diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the pancreas and biliary tract using minimally invasive techniques. These include ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, which employs a thin flexible tube called…
Timing. It often determines whether a stroke victim will resume a normal life, suffer disabilities – or even survive. “From the onset of symptoms until treatment begins, there are only four and half hours in which intravenous clot-busting drugs are effective,” says neurologist Dr. Steven Cramer of the UCI Health…
Dr. Kenneth J. Chang has built one of the nation's finest digestive disease centers for UCI Health with a drive and passion inspired by doctors he assisted in a poor Taiwanese fishing village nearly 30 years ago. Then a medical student, Chang had taken a year off from his studies…
Radiation therapy has come a long way in recent years, both in success rates and patient comfort, says Dr. Nilam S. Ramsinghani, who leads UCI Health radiation oncology program. “People may not realize how far radiation therapy has evolved over the past 20 years. “When I started out, we had…
Each year, millions of Americans develop cancerous skin lesions. The vast majority of these are easily treated and highly survivable, but some are—or could become—melanomas, which can be aggressive and potentially deadly. The causes of skin cancer vary, ranging from excessive sun exposure to family genetics. People who have numerous…
Marilyn Claytor knows back pain. The 74-year-old Anaheim resident was born with scoliosis—an abnormal curvature of the spine— and suffered multiple injuries through her life that left her unable to sleep and barely able to walk despite several back surgeries. Thanks to UC Irvine spine surgeons and a robotic technology…
Ninh T. Nguyen, MD, is a specialist in surgeries of the gastrointestinal tract. Nguyen is highly experienced in minimally invasive techniques. These include laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding and Roux-en-Y bariatric surgeries, staging of esophageal cancer, esophagectomy, fundoplication, resection of gastric stromal tumors, and photodynamic therapy, among others. As a board-certified…
Mastectomy, the removal of all or part of the breast, can be necessary in the treatment of cancer. After mastectomy, many women choose reconstructive surgery to restore the contour of the breast. While reconstruction can be achieved using prosthetic silicone or saline implants, some women prefer a more natural alternative…
Health Media Contacts
Find the best contact for health-related media inquiries.
