Sixteen-year-old Haidyn Ulrich is many things. She’s an avid Iowa Hawkeyes fan, a performer, a top student, an aspiring nurse, and a survivor of pediatric cancer. Haidyn had been healthy until she was 7, when she experienced neck pain and began sleeping for 22 hours at a time. Numerous tests finally led to a diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia – a cancer of the blood and bone marrow – and…

Atrial fibrillation (AFib) is one of the most common kinds of arrhythmias (irregularities in heartbeat) and can put patients with the condition at an increased risk for other heart problems, including high blood pressure, coronary artery disease (CAD), and heart attack. Following a heart-healthy lifestyle and limiting AFib triggers can reduce your symptoms and risk of heart disease.

Kyle Glienke, MD, has deep roots in northwest Iowa. He grew up helping milk the cows in the morning on the family farm near Aurelia. His mother was a nurse at the hospital where he now works. He lives on an acreage just outside of Storm Lake with his wife, Ashlee, and their three young children. “It’s a wonderful place to raise a family,” Glienke says. “We both live close to our parents, and that…

At just 8 years old, Aiden Washburn has already undergone several life-saving open-heart surgeries. His parents were first referred to University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital after prenatal tests detected a heart abnormality. “It was definitely not anything we ever expected,” Aiden’s mother, Josie, recalls. “When we found it out, it was pretty devastating.” After a 23-week…

As UI Health Care works to increase access for all Iowans, the organization is actively adopting new, innovative technologies to support its teams, reduce the administrative burden involved with patient care, and enable a stronger connection with patients. To guide the development of UI Health Care’s technology strategy, leaders gathered feedback from clinicians across the organization to…

Researchers from the University of Iowa Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation are investigating the relationship between malnutrition and the loss of muscle and mobility in older adults who had a hip fracture. UI Health Care orthopedic surgeon Michael Willey, MD, in collaboration with researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the Slocum Center for Orthopedics & Sports Medicine,…

Throughout her childhood, Mya Gilchrist spent more than six years undergoing chemotherapy, with her first treatment beginning before she was 2 years old. Her story begins when local doctors diagnosed her poor balance as an ear infection, a common ailment for an 18-month-old toddler. But Mya’s parents, Brooke and David, suspected something more serious. “For me, the breaking point where we…

Passing out and briefly losing consciousness—for a few seconds to a few minutes—can be scary, but it's not necessarily a cause for alarm. Syncope, the medical term for passing out, is usually related to a drop in blood flow to the brain. Many conditions can cause this, and most aren't serious. Vasovagal syncope is the most common type of syncope and is usually not life-threatening. It occurs when…