Ask the Expert

Our experts at Banner Estrella have covered many topics through our community members' health and wellness questions. Look for future question and answer columns every Friday in the Southwest Valley Republic.

• Cancer Care
• Complementary Medicine
• Diet and Exercise
• General Health
• Germs
• Heart Care
• Men's  Health 
• Neurology 
• Orthopedics 
• Pediatrics 
• Women's Health 
• Your Health

• Colon Cancer Featuring Haider Zafar, MD
• Colon cancer and aspirin Featuring Haider Zafar, MD
• Cancer prevention Featuring Chia-How Liu, MD
• Kidney Cancer Featuring Jean Robey, MD
• Mastectomies and lumpectomies Featuring Kimberli Cox, MD
• Are my moles dangerous? Haider Zafar, MD

 Diet

• Calcium and Osteoporosis Featuring Lucia Magat-Gregorio, MD
• Diabetes and your Diet Featuring Homar Bartra, MD
• Energy drinks Featuring Stanley Wen, MD
• Trans Fats Featuring Brianne Holmes, Registered Dietitian
• Why are trans fats bad for you? Featuring: Jacklyn Diefenbach
• Is gluten-free good for you? Featuring Jacklyn Diefenbach, Registered Dietitian
• What kind of health problems does obesity cause? Featuring John DeBarros, MD
• Long-term weight loss Featuring John Monroe, MD
• How to have a healthy Thanksgiving Featuring Jacklyn Diefenbach, Registered Dietitian

 Exercise

• Exercise and Pain Featuring Douglas Mangan, MD
• How can my family stay active and avoid injury? Featuring Grant Padley, MD
• Minimizing the risk for golf injuries Featuring William Brainard, MD
• Working outside in the heat Featuring Vicki Copeland, MD
• Protecting yourself from the summer heat Featuring Alan Molk, MD
• Target heart rates Featuring Parminder Singh, MD
• Training for a marathon at 50  Featuring Jason Brown, MD
• Weight training Featuring Grant Padley, MD

 General Health

• Exercise-induced asthma Featuring Stanley Wen, MD
• What causes blood clots? Featuring Sarita Sharma, MD
• Cuts, scrapes and medical care Featuring Gavin Parisi, MD
• Diabetes and kidney disease Featuring Jean Robey, MD
• Avoiding prescription-drug overdoses Featuring Cathy Nguyen, PharmD
• Flip-flops Featuring Therese Losi
• Gastric sleeve resections Featuring Antony Galitsky, MD
• Gastrointestinal disorders Featuring Hector Rodriguez-Luna, MD
• Indigestion or GERD? Featuring Jon King, MD
• Acid reflux or indigestion? Featuring Jon King, MD
• Hypothyroidism Featuring Shishir Murarka, MD
• Risk factors for kidney disease Featuring Jean Robey, MD
• When to see a kidney specialist Featuring Jean Robey, MD
• Leg swelling Featuring Kathy Maher, RN
• Metabolism Featuring Jacklyn Diefenbach
• Peptic ulcers Featuring Hector Rodriguez-Luna, MD
• Shin splints Featuring Aaron Reinhardt, PT
• Seniors' skin problems Featuring Shishir Murarka, MD
• Getting a good night's sleep Featuring Vicki Copeland, MD
• Pain when Sleeping Featuring Kathy Maher, RN
• I'm not sweating. Is that bad? Featuring David Cohen, MD
• Why am I going to the bathroom so much during the middle of the night? Featuring Jean Robey, MD
• Wisdom teeth Featuring Michael Golding, MD
• The five-second rule Featuring John Po, MD

 Germs

• Strep Infections Sandy Gladding, MD
• e.Coli Toni Lee, RN, Infection Preventionist
• Killing Household Germs Toni Lee, RN, Infection Preventionist
• Colds vs. Allergies David Engstrom, MD
• How Serious is MRSA? John Po, MD
• Who Should get a Flu Shot? Jean Robey, MD
• How can I protect my child against H1N1 John Po, MD
• Does being pregnant increase my chances of getting H1N1 Mystie Johnson, MD
• What is valley fever? Varsha Dandavate, MD
• Universal flu shot? John Po, MD
• Should my healthy child get a flu shot? Featuring John Po, MD

 Heart Care

• Non-invasive artery disease testing Allan Grossman, MD
• Atrial fibrillation and stroke Andres Atiemo, MD
• Is Afib a form of a heart attack? Rajeev Garg, MD
• Understanding cholesterol Nathan Laufer, MD
• What do my cholesterol test results mean? Jason Brown, MD
• Understanding cholesterol drug research Adhar Seth, MD
• Measuring cholesterol buildup Thomas Perry, MD
• Cholesterol differences between men and women Featuring Lawrence Kline, D.O.
• Dental hygiene and heart attacks Youngsoo Cho, MD
• New device for hearts Mitchell Ross, MD
• Heart attacks and healthy people Nathan Laufer, MD
• Heart attacks while exercising Lawrence Kline, D.O.
• Heart palpitations Faran Bashir, MD
• Mitral valve prolapse Lawrence Kline, D.O.
• Sleep and heart health Youngsoo Cho, MD
• Testing for mitral valve prolapse Lawrence Kline, D.O.
• Women and heart disease Lawrence Kline, D.O.
• Cardiovascular disease and women Mitchell Ross, MD

Men's Health

• Penile Dysfunction Shawn Blick, MD

 Neurology

• Brain Injury Troy Anderson, MD
• Dementia Ryan Rawlings, MD
• Seizures and convulsions Marc Wasserman, MD
• Do seizures mean epilepsy? Marc Wasserman, MD
• Strokes and Transient Ischemic Attacks Troy Anderson, MD

Orthopedics

• Basic Bone Fractures Gregory Sirounian, MD
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome   Kent Chou, MD
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Kraig Burgess, MD
• Carpal Tunnel Surgery Kent Chou, MD
• Back pain James Hawkins, MD
• Back and hip pain  Gregory Sirounian, MD
• Back pain diagnosis using discography Tory McJunkin, MD
• Relieving Back Pain James Hawkins, MD
• Hip Bursitis Robert Karpman, MD
• Non-arthritic hip pain Featuring Grant Padley, D.O.
• Minimally-invasive Joint Replacement Steven Myerthall, MD
• Knee Pain Gregory Sirounian, MD
• Gender Knee Replacement Audrey Tsao, MD
• Rehab after knee surgery Dan Dzurida, Physical Therapist
• Anterior Hip Replacements Gregory Sirounian, MD
• Exercise and Osteoporosis Bignfen Grace Yu, MD
• Osteoporosis of the Spine James Hawkins, MD
• Meniscus tear Douglas Mangan, MD
• Spinal stenosis James Hawkins, MD
• Spinal fusion James Hawkins, MD
• Painful Shoulder Syndrome William Brainard, MD
• Walking in Pain Keith Vavrinak, PT
• Tennis elbow Featuring Kent Chou, MD
• Repetitive Stress Injuries and Ipods Kent Chou, MD

Pediatrics

• Safe sleep positions for babies Featuring: Michael McQueen, MD
• Acid reflux Matthew Bennett, MD
• How to allergy proof your home Michael Arbel, MD
• Baseball; Keeping young pitchers safe Featuring Grant Padley, D.O.
• Bedwetting at age six Wendi Morfitt, MD
• When does a bump on the head become serious? Marc Wasserman, MD
• How dangerous are concussions for young athletes? Grant Padley, MD
• Childhood hypertension Celida Rangel, MD
• Jaundice Michael McQueen, MD
• Measles immunization John Monroe, MD
• How can I pack a healthy lunch for my child? Martin Hernandez, MD
• What parents can do about childhood obesity Jason Brown, MD
• Sudden infant death syndrome Featuring Michael McQueen, MD
• Keeping your child safe around water Michael Arbel, MD
• Children and weight training Douglas Mangan, MD
• How dangerous is whooping cough to babies? Varsha Dandavate, MD

Women's Health

• Cervical cancer vaccine Gema Fernandez, MD
• HPV Mystie Johnson, MD
• HPV vaccine Mystie Johnson, MD
• What is a hysterectomy Jennifer Shaw, MD  
• Options to Hysterectomy Mystie Johnson, MD
• Preventive Mastectomies Sandy Gladding, MD
• Inflammatory breast cancer Theresa Frouge, MD
• Estrogen therapy Lucia Gregoria, MD
• Bioidentical hormones Gema Fernandez, MD
• Cardiovascular Disease and Women Mitchell Ross, MD
• Severe morning sickness Mystie Johnson, MD
• Traveling while pregnant Gema Fernandez, MD
• Having a baby at 40? Tim Walter, MD
• How can I reduce my chances of premature labor Tim Walter, MD
• Preparing for pregnancy Raj Rathee, MD
• Umbilical-cord blood banking BJ Ho, DO
• Exercise and Pregnancy Tim Walter, MD
• Gestational diabetes Stephen Pedron, MD
• Pre-eclampsia Mystie Johnson, MD
• Post-partum depression Mystie Johnson, MD
• Post Partum Depression Lorenzo Boyce, MD
• What is best for a first child: Breastmilk or formula? Kelly Goad, MD
• My uterus is tipped. Is that a problem? Jordan Oland, MD
• Overactive Bladder Shawn Blick, MD
• Why do some women become incontinent Jennifer Klauschie, MD

 Your Health

• Medicine in the Hospital John Placko, Pharmacist
• Spanish Interpreters Vicki Yepiz 
• Anesthesia Stephanie Wade, MD
• Why do I need a medical check-up? Stanley Wen, MD
• Selecting a primary-care physician Kent Johnson, MD
• How do I protect myself against brain injury? Marc Wasserman, MD