About 1 in 4 pregnant women carry Group B Strep Throat (GBS), which is the leading cause to newborns suffering from sepsis and meningitis. GBS is not seen as a big deal but for those who are infected the effects can be devastating, it can lead to miscarriages, stillborn,
premature births, sickness, or death.

GBS can present before birth, through the first week after birth, or through several months after birth. If its an early onset the symptoms will be fever, difficulty feeding, and lethargy. If it’s late onset the disease includes the same as early on set, along with difficulty breathing and irritability. If you carry the disease you might not present signs or symptoms.To prevent GBS from spreading to your infant during labor the doctors will give you antibiotics during labor.

If you or someone you know carries GBS and would like a second opinion on what the best steps to take are please contact us at, SecondOpinions.com for your baby’s health, your health, and for your peace of mind.

July is National Cleft & Craniofacial Awareness & Prevention Month. During this month it is important to bring awareness and understanding of birth defects that could affect the head and face along with conditions caused by trauma, burns, and disease. In the United States, about 7,000 babies are born with orofacial clefts every year.

Some of the craniofacial birth defects a child could suffer from are cleft lip, cleft palate, or both. These cause many problems, such as difficulty eating, speaking, and misaligned teeth. The cause for most cases is unknown but the environmental exposure during pregnancy could be a reason why. In 2014 it was confirmed by the Surgeon’s General report that smoking during early pregnancy can cause orofacial cleft. If you are pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant it’s very important to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

To correct both cleft lip and palate is possible through surgery. If you would like to get a second opinion, contact us to get an opinion from one of our American Board Certified doctors.

June is Scoliosis Awareness Month. Scoliosis causes a sideways curvature of the spine, taking in the shape of a C or S. It is most common among children, mainly girls.

Some of the symptoms or signs that someone is suffering from Scoliosis are:

• Uneven shoulders
• Uneven waist
• One hip higher than the other
• Back pain
• Rotating spine

Although the causes are unknown for most of the types of scoliosis, genetics can play a role because it tends to run in families. Another factor can be age since it starts appearing during the growth spurt. Other causes of scoliosis can be neuromuscular conditions, such as cerebral palsy, infections or injuries in the spine, or birth defects.

The treatment can include a brace, to stop the progression, therapy, and surgery to prevent the spinal curve from getting worse. If you or someone you know suffers from scoliosis and would like to get a second opinion to see what the best treatment option is, contact us and we will connect you with one of our American board-certified doctors.

National Scleroderma Awareness Month is June. During this month it is important to bring awareness of this rare autoimmune disease that affects thousands of people in the United States, being more common in women than men. Scleroderma is a group of rare diseases in which the skin and connective tissues become hard and tight, in which not only the skin is affected, but also the internal organs.

There are two main types of scleroderma, localized scleroderma and systemic. Localized scleroderma affects the skin only, unlike systemic scleroderma which affects the skin, joints, lungs, and other organs. The symptoms vary but some of them are hardening and tightening on the skin, toes or fingers becoming numb or changing color in response to things such as change in temperature. Someone with scleroderma can experience problems with the digestive system due to having problems with absorbing the nutrients. The heart, lungs, and kidneys can also be affected. The cause of scleroderma is due to overproduction and accumulation of collagen in the body tissues.

There is no cure but there are treatments to help you deal with this disease. Some of the treatments are medications, therapy, and sometimes surgery in a severe circumstance. It is important to stay active, not smoke, manage heartburn, and protecting self from the cold. If you would like a second opinion on what is the best treatment for you, contact us at SecondOpinions.com.

June is National Aphasia Awareness Month. It is a disorder that affects the side of your brain which is responsible for language. It can affect the way people speak, read, write, and listen. It affects about 2 million people in the United States. It usually takes place after a stroke, head injury, or other neurological causes.

Someone with aphasia might have difficulty with using language and communicating in their day to day activities. There are different types of aphasia, the most common are Wernicke’s and Broca’s Aphasia. If you suffer from Wernicke’s Aphasia, you might say words that don’t make sense, use the wrong words, or put together sentences that don’t make sense. Broca’s Aphasia on which you might have trouble forming complete sentences, understanding sentences, following directions, and other language problems.

A treatment for Aphasia can be therapy. Usually after a head injury the brain starts changing on its own which helps it recover and start having improvements within a few months, even without therapy. If you or someone you know suffers from Aphasia contact us and get a second opinion to help you recover faster and better.

Myasthenia Gravis, a serious muscle weakness is a rare chronic autoimmune disease that affects your muscle movement. There is weakness and fatigue of the muscles that are under voluntary control. It is caused by a failure in communication between your nerves and muscles. In the United States, this is such a rare disease that only 14 to 20 people for every 100,000 are affected by it.

Two of the causes of myasthenia gravis can be antibodies or the thymus gland. The antibodies of someone with myasthenia gravis blocks or destroys the muscles’ receptor sites for acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter, which receives nerve signals. With the receptors being blocked or destroyed the muscles receive fewer signals which lead to weakness. Antibodies also can block tyrosine kinase, which is a protein that helps form the nerve-muscular junction. The thymus gland is located in the upper chest under the breastbone, which is believed to be what begins or continues to have the antibodies blocking or destroying acetylcholine. The symptoms vary because it can affect different muscle groups. In your eye muscles, you can suffer from drooping eyelids or double vision. When your face and throat muscles are affected you can suffer from difficulty swallowing, hard time chewing, and altered speaking. You will feel too tired to use arms and hands, too tired to hold up neck if your neck and limb muscles are affected. This disease has no cure but there are treatments to help you live a normal life.

Treatment includes medications, therapies, and in some cases surgery. For someone with this disease it is important to sleep well, rest, stress less, and adjust daily routines to help you have more energy. If you’d like a second opinion on the treatment you are receiving, contact us for your peace of mind and the peace of mind of your loved ones.

Every 65 seconds someone in the United States develops Alzheimer’s disease, making it the 6th leading cause of death in the country. Alzheimer affects the functions of your brain because the brain shrinks dramatically over time, leading to nerve cell death and tissue loss.

It is a continuous and permanent disorder that damages your brain. The cortex in your brain shrivels up making it difficult to think, plan, and remember. The most severe shrinkage is in the hippocampus, where memories form. The ventricles in the brain grow larger. These all impair memory, thinking skills, and the ability to carry out simple tasks.
For most people the symptoms for Alzheimer’s disease appear in the mid-60s. Some of the ones you might experience are memory loss, confusion of time and place, problems with speaking or writing words, misplacing things, and poor judgment. Unfortunately, there is no cure yet but some ways to help you cope with it are treatments to maintain a healthy mental function, manage the behavioral symptoms, and slow down the growth of symptoms.

If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, contact us for a second opinion that can help you have peace of mind.

Based on the data collected by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation 33,000 people in the United States live with cystic fibrosis, 3,000 in Canada, and 20,000 in Europe. Cystic Fibrosis happens among all races but is most common among white people from Northern Europe. Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disease that progresses with time which causes lung infections and limits the ability to breathe. This affects the cells in your body that produce mucus, sweat, and digestive juices.

Some of the symptoms someone with cystic fibrosis might experience are persistent cough with thick mucus, wheezing, constant lung infections, and having a hard time breathing. Other symptoms they might experience are no weight gain or growth, and smelly, greasy stools. Treatments include medications to help with lung infections, swelling in the airways of the lungs and drugs to help cough up mucus. Some of the goals of the treatments are to prevent and control infections in the lungs and prevent intestinal blockage.

If you or someone you know would like a second opinion on what are the best treatments to follow contact us and we’ll have one of our American Board Certified doctors give you a second opinion that will give you peace of mind.

May is High Blood Pressure Education Month. High Blood pressure is when the pressure in the arteries is higher than what it should be. Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against your blood vessel walls. Normal blood pressure is below 120/80 mm Hg, 120 being systolic, the pressure when the heart beats and 80 being diastolic, the pressure when the heart rests between beats.

The danger of high blood pressure is that it normally doesn’t show any signs or symptoms. According to the CDC about 75 million American adults suffer from high blood pressure. Some factors that can put you at risk of developing high blood pressure are diabetes, being obese or overweight, high cholesterol, unhealthy diet, smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke, physical inactivity, family history.

Having high blood pressure puts you at risk of suffering from heart disease and stroke. If you have high blood pressure and are aware of it, it is important to take your medications, along with avoiding smoking, limiting alcohol intake, maintaining a healthy weight, eating a healthy diet, and being physically active. Contact us if you would like a second opinion about your diagnosis, to help you live a healthy life and have peace of mind.

Arthritis is a disease that affects 54.4 million people in the United States, according to the CDC. Arthritis covers more than 100 diseases and is an inflammation of one or more of your joints and can also affect other connective tissues and organs. Some of the symptoms you might experience are stiffness, pain, and swelling in your joints, which tend to be stronger in the morning.

The two most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid. Osteoarthritis is when the cartilage of your bones wears off. Rheumatoid happens when the body’s immune system attacks its tissues. Some factors to why arthritis happens are family history, age, joint injury, obesity, and sex because it is more common in women.

Arthritis cannot be cured but treatments are available. Treatments vary depending on the type of arthritis you suffer, which are meant to alleviate the pain and help you live a better life. If you have any concerns or questions with the treatment you are currently receiving, get in contact with us to have one of our American Board Certified professionals give you an opinion that can help you live a healthier life.