Articles

Hoag Mental Health Center will kick off its “Together We Prevent Suicide Series” on Saturday with a free half-day conference in Newport Beach. The event will include speakers from the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, Orange County Health Care Agency and National Alliance on Mental Illness of Orange County and will offer a resource fair with … Read More

When a baby is born, people stop acting like themselves. Gruff grown-ups make goofy faces at infants. Nostalgic moms share their birthing experiences with pregnant strangers. Shy kids clamber onto strollers of babies they don’t know, just to coo at newborns. In some cases, emotions brought up during this motherhood transition can become intense and … Read More

Donna Dessau has been named Nurse of the Year at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian. Dessau is an OBGYN nurse practitioner and labor and delivery nurse. The hospital in a statement said she was chosen for her “clinical excellence, her role as a teacher to her fellow nurses and for her strong patient advocacy.” “Donna is … Read More

The Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach recently added a “7D” surgical system used in spinal procedures, making it the first West Coast hospital to do so. The system contains the same technology found in self-driving cars, according to a news release, enabling a surgeon to have an “unprecedented level of … Read More

When a patient comes to me long after he or she suspects that something is amiss, I tell them, “I understand.” I know why they had ignored their tremors for too long. I understand why they had dismissed their balance issues as insignificant. Depictions of Parkinson’s disease in popular culture are grim, and nobody wants … Read More

Plain and simple, all parents worry. In the 1930’s, they worried about the affects listening to the radio would have on their children’s priorities. In the 1950’s, it was the accessibility of “adult” content on television. It wasn’t until the 1980s, though, that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) came up with guidelines for how … Read More

Measles cases continue to be identified in California and across the U.S. Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by the measles (rubeola) virus. The symptoms (fever, fatigue, cough, runny nose, conjunctivitis/pink eye) usually begin 8-12 days after exposure with rash onset 2-4 days later. The rash usually begins around the ears and hairline … Read More

It’s not just someone obsessed by Columbine. Last year, a seemingly normal teen was found dead from suicide in a Corona del Mar park. Just a few weeks ago, a young man walked into a local South County fast food joint, then into the restroom, where he was found hung. Another was found dead on … Read More

The Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute’s epilepsy program at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach has received a Level 4 epilepsy center designation, the highest level from the National Assn. of Epilepsy Centers. The institute has the professional expertise and resources necessary to “provide the most advanced and comprehensive medical evaluation and treatment for patients with complex … Read More

There is still a lot we don’t know about cancer. A diagnosis or even the thought of a future diagnosis can be scary. And what about your cancer risk? Many patients ask me “If a close family member has cancer, does that mean I will too?” Through hereditary cancer assessments, we are now able to … Read More