In The News
Dr. Burak Ozgur Honored as 'Compassionate Doctor'
A neurosurgeon at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian was ranked as one of the top physicians in the country based on patient reviews, Patient’s Choice reported. Burak Ozgur, Hoag’s chief of service of the Neurosurgery Spine program, was recently honored with a 2012 Compassionate Doctor Certification. According to Patients’ Choice, out of the country’s 870,000 active … Read More
O.C. Vital Aging program Awarded Grant to Promote Healthy Brains in Battle Against Alzheimer's
Newport Beach, Calif., July 2, 2013 – Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian has been awarded a $450,000 grant to continue helping residents maintain a health brain for life, through its Orange County Vital Brain Aging Program, officials announced. The Orange County Vital Brain Aging Program (Vital Brain Program), launched in 2010, recently received its second UniHealth … Read More
Cancer patient concerned about multiple CT scans
?Risk versus reward is a debate in the medical community over a common test, frequently ordered by doctors. Now one local patient came to the I-Team with fears he’s been exposed to too much radiation. The use of computed tomography, or CT scans, has increased more than 20 times since 1980. They are used in … Read More
Carve out “me time” to avoid the holidays blues
?You’re crammed into a corner of a table set for 14 but built for 10. The pie is warm; your irritable cousin’s glare is cold. Your kids are fidgety, and you are exhausted. Happy Holidays! As chief of psychiatry liaison services at Hoag Hospital, I can’t stop your aunt from inciting an ugly political debate … Read More
There is a fungus among us
?”I’ve seen the needle and the damage done,” sang Neil Young in his ’60s anthem about drug abuse. Steroid injections by doctors for back pain don’t compare to the destructive types of pain relief used by junkies, but as the above lyric went on, “a little bit of it in everyone.” As I have previously … Read More
Doctor's own tumor led him to take up scalpel
Irvine — Dr. Robert Pettis asks for a scalpel. “”OK. Starting.”” Lying before him in an operating room at Hoag Hospital Irvine is a 71-year-old woman with a cancerous thyroid. Pettis, 46, begins to remove the entire shield-shaped gland from the woman’s throat. Though common, thyroidectomies require surgical precision and patience. Surgeons must carve around … Read More
New Generation Alzheimer's Drugs: Do They Work?
We’ve all been hopeful that a new class of Alzheimer’s drugs (monoclonal antibodies) would soon bring effective treatment to the growing number of Alzheimer’s patients. The latest approach is based on using antibodies that bind with harmful amyloid protein. The idea is that the antibodies will be naturally flushed from the body by the immune … Read More
Wired for Action: Nine Inch Nails in your brain
?By MICHAEL BRANT-ZAWADZKI MC FACR / For The Current Ever wish you could put your brain on remote control? Some people have to. Our brain’s activity comes from certain chemicals released by nerve cells. Their release sends an electrical current down the cells’ extensions. That activity is triggered in two ways. The first is voluntary. … Read More
'Friend' or foe: An Army psychiatrist says Facebook hurts our troops
By Mayrav Saar August 18, 2012 Our soldiers are being devastated on an unexpected front: Facebook. Troops who have survived shellings and shootings can find themselves emotionally wounded by online photos of spouses partying with strangers and innuendo-laden updates that betray a very different “status” than that of a devoted girlfriend back home. Access to … Read More
Hoag Health – Brain Matters: When the Joker is Wild
?Obsessed with a comic book character? You may be courting tragedy. When voices compel you to act like a villain, your tragedy may visit others. With each new mass murder, grief grips yet another large group: We rightfully think first of the lives lost needlessly. The media vilifies the killer: His photo shows what could … Read More