Health Information Online

Imagine finding out one month after your newborn son had major surgery that his heart defect is the least of his health concerns-this was the case for the Fain family. Their son Maeson just finished heart surgery and things were looking up. Then they received the news no parent wants to hear: Maeson was diagnosed with CHARGE syndrome, a rare set of life-threatening birth defects.

“There were all of these tests they ran on me through amniocentesis and that’s when they found Maeson’s heart defect. I thought it couldn’t get any worse than that,” with tears in her eyes, Rhonda Fain explained the day she received baby Maeson’s diagnosis. “What we found out was a whole lot worse.”

CHARGE syndrome is not a disease but a recognizable pattern of birth defects. When first identified, the cluster of symptoms was created into an acronym used to identify it, C.H.A.R.G.E:

C– Coloboma of the eye (Coloboma is like a cleft in the eye which causes vision loss.)
H– Heart defects
A– Atresia of the choanae (Choanae are the passages that go from the back of the nose to the throat. These can be narrow or blocked.)
R– Restriction of growth and development
G– Genital and/or urinary abnormalities
E– Ear abnormalies and deafness

Although these features are no longer used to make the diagnosis of CHARGE syndrome, the name remains the same. Babies born with this set of birth defects usually have life-threatening heart and breathing difficulties and vision, hearing and balance defects that delay development.

This explained the heart defect baby Maeson was diagnosed with in the womb, but Mitch and Rhonda Fain were left with more questions than answers after they spoke with their doctor that day.

“It’s been horrible. There are all kinds of complications. He could be deaf, he could be blind, he could be mentally retarded,” Mitch Fain said. “We could be doing this for months and months and months.”

CHARGE syndrome affects one in every 9-10,000 births worldwide, according to the CHARGE syndrome foundation. The entire cause of CHARGE syndrome isn’t known, but it is a genetic condition where at least one gene mutation is involved. Genetic mutations lead to a very complex group of symptoms. Patients with CHARGE syndrome have varying degrees of severity of all the possible symptoms. Therefore, the diagnosis of CHARGE syndrome is complex and treatments vary for each child. There are no easy answers, something Mitch and Rhonda have had to accept.

“The heart defect was a physical defect that you could take care of. These issues with the CHARGE are a whole new ball-game” Mitch said.

There is hope for children diagnosed with CHARGE syndrome. Research shows early intervention with multiple types of therapies (such as occupational, physical and speech) can make a huge difference in whether or not they reach their potential.

Whiplash? Car accidents are the leading cause. While whiplash injuries are often sustained in car accidents, this is hardly the only culprit.

Here are some other notable causes of whiplash and neck injuries:

– Bicycles
– Skiing
– Horseback riding
– Motorcycles
– Skateboards

Visualize this if you will. You’re riding along leisurely on your bicycle, in the specified bicycle lane, on a clear day. The road is clear of traffic and you are no more than 10 minutes from home. Life is good, you think to yourself. Seemingly out of no where, a car swerves into your lane. You aren’t riding very fast, but nevertheless are compelled to clamp down on the brakes.

In addition to this, you are forced to let your feet drop down to the road, to avoid being tossed from your bike. Your torso is violently snapped forward and back. Fortunately, your reflexes get you safely out of the car’s path and you are able to make it to the side of the road. However, you notice a dull ache in your neck. After about 10 minutes, the dull aches evolves into shooting pain moving from your neck down to your shoulders. You wisely go to the hospital, where you are diagnosed with a somewhat mild case of whiplash. Cars accidents and collisions are the usual suspects, but not in this case.

Shaken baby syndrome is another unfortunate cause of whiplash. This is when a small child, usually 5 years or younger is shaken violently. It creates the same sort of sudden acceleration/deceleration movement that a collision in the rear of a car does.

Symptoms of whiplash include:

– Stiffness in neck and or shoulders. difficulty in turning the head in one or either direction
– Neck pain. Mild or sharp. Shooting pain traveling down towards torso
– Headaches
– Memory loss
– Blurred vision
– Irritability. Unable to concentrate. Mood swings

Once whiplash is diagnosed, get medical care and treatment. The above mentioned symptoms do not always show up right away. Shrugging this injury off can lead to debilitating, life-long pain and needless suffering. Not to mention, missed days from work and sky high medical bills.

The most frequent cause of whiplash injuries are car accidents. This is the undisputed king of personal injury claims brought against insurance companies. Millions of people have sought compensation for this injury. No question about it.

OK, so you didn’t injure your neck in a car. Whiplash, as pointed out above can happen in a multitude of ways. Because you hurt your neck while skiing, doesn’t mean it should be dismissed as something else. Whatever the cause, get a full medical report and if need be, seek whiplash compensation.

The secret to a permanently curing your Thrush is understanding that the treatment must address the cause.

Therefore, if you’re searching for a treatment for your thrush there’s a fair chance you suspect you have the symptoms of thrush. Or perhaps your condition is quite noticeable and you’re desperate to get some relief…

If your symptoms are less obvious, you’re lucky. You have a much better chance of treating the thrush early before it becomes more advanced and truly unpleasant symptoms take hold. If your symptoms are more conclusive or if you’ve been diagnosed with thrush, then there is a very good chance that you’re after some immediate relief.

If your thrush infection has become chronic, then you’re probably getting desperate for answers. Undoubtedly, you’ve visited a myriad of doctors and tried an ever increasing list creams, ointments and prescription drugs which often provide no long term improvement in your condition.

Of course all of these treatments for thrush work for a while, in varying degrees. But I’ll bet what you’ve found is that your thrush just keeps coming back. Now you’re beyond short term, acute treatment. You’re searching for something that’s actually going to give you permanent relief so you can get back to living a normal life.

You see when many thrush sufferers first get infected they find that it crept up on them. They didn’t recognise the early signs and as a consequence, the thrush infection is not diagnosed early. Treatment is only sought when the more conclusive (unpleasant) symptoms develop. In most cases, the unfortunate outcome is that treatments that only address the symptoms are employed and as a result, the thrush clears up for awhile and then comes back.

The next step is to use stronger treatments that once again only treat the symptoms and of course the outcome is again the same. Unfortunately, for the suffer, they are now on the way to developing a chronic case of thrush that just doesn’t seem to want to go away.

Therefore, the only effective way to rid your body of thrush permanently is to discover and treat the root causes. You must diagnose what is causing your thrush, take measures to correct the causes and then go about eliminating the thrush infection from your body in a manner so that it will not come back.

Remember, thrush is just like any other medical condition. You can go about just treating the symptoms which will of course give some initial relief but now you know what’s going to happen if you stop there. It’s going to come back and it will keep coming back with ever worsening symptoms, so that it will eventually lead to chronic thrush that just won’t go away.

You’ll be miserable. You’ll feel very unwell and it’ll make it difficult for you to function effectively throughout the day. It’ll also increase your susceptibility to other more serious medical conditions.

If you’re serious about a treatment for thrush that’s permanent, then you need to not only treat the symptoms but most importantly, you need to address and treat the root causes of your thrush.

When you are suffering from an adverse health condition, especially a severe illness or disorder, you should seek immediate medical attention. However, even when you do that, doctors’ negligence can result in delayed treatment. During this time you can become even sicker and perhaps past the ability to even respond to treatment.

On the other hand, there is a thin line between waiting for a second opinion and delayed treatment. In some cases, if you are misdiagnosed, the treatment that you receive for your supposed condition can be dangerous no matter if you receive it immediately or if it is delayed. Thus, when you are diagnosed with a serious health condition, you should always consider taking the time to get a second opinion rather than push forward to get treatment as soon as possible.

Once you are sure of your diagnosis, though, you should receive the proper treatment immediately. Doctors undergo years of education and training so that they can correctly identify disorders and prescribe the proper care. This is important because some powerful treatments, like chemotherapy or strong antibiotics, can weaken your body even as they attack the source of your problem.

Thus, you can suffer from delayed treatment if a doctor fails to recognize your disorder. Additionally, if a medical facility refuses to take you, it can cost you time in getting the treatment you need. Lastly, if you go to the emergency room for treatment, the nurses must correctly triage your injuries and determine if you actually need emergency treatment or not. In cases like this, if you are sent to the wrong unit, it can also take more time before you are treated.

Delay in treatment may not be too dangerous in the case of something like a mild cough or cold. Often, these are caused by viruses that can’t be treated with medication. However, with more serious issues such as strokes and brain trauma, the few hours of delay in getting treatment can result in permanent health issues. For instance, if you hit your head and the doctor diagnoses brain trauma, he should monitor the swelling inside and perhaps administer medications or even perform surgery to keep the blood from pooling up inside your skull. The problem with pooled blood is that it puts pressure on your brain. Prolonged pressure can kill off areas of brain tissue, resulting in lifelong brain damage.