When retiree Dan Christensen moved to Orange County from his native Oregon in September 2010, he immediately began searching for volunteer opportunities. "I wanted to be somewhat intellectually stimulated so that I didn’t get rusty, so to speak," Christensen says. His wife, Susan Christensen suggested he look at UC Irvine…
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…
When Ken Mitchell first met UCI Health transplant surgeon Dr. Clarence Foster, he was a diabetic in kidney failure. Mitchell, a 42-year-old caterer, had to prick his finger eight times a day to test his blood sugar. His condition required four-hour dialysis sessions, four times a week. His life was…
Nearly 600,000 hysterectomies are performed each year in the United States—a rate unchanged since World War II. Uterine fibroids, benign tumors in and around the uterine walls, account for half these procedures. UCI Health radiologist Dr. Scott Goodwin wants to change that. "The interventional radiologist has a tool that may…
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…
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…
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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