After years of monitoring a leaky heart valve, worsening fatigue led one Iowa man to surgery. At UI Health Care, a minimally invasive approach helped him recover faster and get back to daily life.

Crystal Christensen, BSN, RN, CCRN, treats some of the sickest patients in her role as a staff nurse in the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) at the university campus. Her days are rarely the same, caring for patients with complex health problems like blood infections, cancer, gastrointestinal issues, and more. But for Christensen, the goal remains the same — provide the best possible care for…

Jacob Elkins, MD, and his team are using biomechanics to move beyond BMI and expand access to hip and knee arthroplasty. Surgeries to treat hip and knee arthritis are among the most successful in medicine, boasting success rates over 90% and dramatically improving quality of life. Yet for patients with a body mass index (BMI) over 40, access to surgery is often denied due to higher…

In the fast-paced, high-stakes environment of the Surgical and Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit (SNICU), Angie Gaul, BSN, RN, works to make a difference for patients and their families each shift. That commitment was especially evident when she cared for a patient injured in a car accident who was brought to the university campus for urgent treatment.

Quitting smoking is one of the best decisions you can make for your health. But do past smoking habits continue to put you at risk for lung cancer, even after you’ve quit?

Mackenzie Sagers, a 17-year-old from Cedar Falls, Iowa, first noticed that something was wrong in middle school while playing basketball. “It was a pain in my knee,” she says. “I knew that something just was off.” There was no single fall or one moment that explained it. “It just started hurting,” she says.

On a chilly fall morning in northern Iowa, Jacob Pergande climbs into his tractor to start another long day in the field. As he rides with the rising sun, he pulls out his phone to join a virtual medical appointment — without leaving his sixth-generation family farm.

Atrial fibrillation, or Afib, is the most common type of arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat. It starts in the upper chambers of the heart and can lead to an abnormally fast, slow, or inconsistent rhythm over time. If you have Afib, it may be worth asking about ablation sooner rather than later, especially if your symptoms come back, medication is not working well, or you want to understand…

As spring begins to segue into summer, both kids and adults are using electric scooters and bikes as a fun and economical way to get around. While they seem carefree, our safety experts at University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital say they can still pose dangers if not ridden correctly. They offer some tips to making the ride safe as well as fun.

If you or someone near you has a stroke, time is critical. “When it comes to stroke, every second counts,” says Enrique Leira, MD, a neurologist and head of the Comprehensive Stroke Center at University of Iowa Health Care. He is also a professor and the director of the UI Department of Neurology Division of Cerebrovascular Disease. “There are 1.9 million neurons lost per minute.”