News and Updates

November is National Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Awareness Month, and our team at Galen wants to shed some light on this illness while trying to raise local awareness. This month marks a unique opportunity for the COPD community to band together to help educate others about the disease, bring greater visibility to its effects, and to encourage people to recognize its symptoms and seek early diagnosis and treatment. Learn More, Breathe Better is a national health education program dedicated to raising awareness about lung health, while supporting further research to inspire both public and professional education programs. Galen also

November is American Diabetes Month, a time set aside to increase education and raise awareness surrounding risk factors of this disease, making information and resources readily available to our patients and community. For those living with diabetes, November marks an opportunity to tell your story, to share with others what it’s really like to live with this disease. For the rest of us, it’s time to learn more about diabetes, its risk factors, and how we can make lifestyle choices to help safeguard us from its effects. The first step to effectively fighting diseases like diabetes is to make sure

October is Liver Awareness Month, so in effort to help promote a deeper understanding, we’d love to share with you some information about liver disease, and how to promote liver health. There are more than 100 different types of liver disease. According to the American Liver Foundation, at least 30 million Americans– or 1 in every 10– have some form of liver disease. Liver cancer is on the rise in the U.S., with approximately 21,000 Americans being diagnosed with primary liver cancer each year. Liver disease can be caused by infections, viruses like Hepatitis A, B, and C, immune system

Galen Medical is now offering FibroScan, a newer diagnostic procedure for diagnosing fatty liver disease. We are the only private practice in the Chattanooga area currently offering this service to the medical community, and we are excited to work hand-in-hand with other local medical providers to utilize this amazing tool to more effectively treat liver conditions. Fibroscan vs Liver Biopsy FibroScan is a quick and non-invasive procedure used to assess the overall health of the liver. In lieu of the more invasive biopsy method, FibroScan uses a combination of an elastic wave and ultrasound technology to assess the stiffness and

More than 20 years ago, September was named national Healthy Aging Month, a time set aside to focus attention on the positive aspects of growing older while encouraging people to live their healthiest lifestyles. It’s so important to take personal responsibility for our health from every angle be it physical, mental, emotional, or even financial. It’s never too late to start taking health seriously and making changes to our daily routines that lead to better wellness overall. Our society often casts a negative light on the process of aging, but we believe aging is a beautiful thing that can be

Childhood obesity is a serious problem in the United States, putting children and adolescents at higher risk for health problems that can become serious. According to the WHO, the number of obese infants and children from ages 0 to 5 years increased from 32 million globally in 1990 to 41 million by the year 2016. These numbers are far too high, and that is why September has been deemed Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. Childhood Obesity Awareness Month is purposed to call out the issue, combatting it through education and overall awareness. Consequences of Childhood Obesity When children and adolescents struggle

Dr. Yolanda Spraggins is a Galen physician specializing in pediatrics. As a child, Dr. Spraggins was moved by a story about children in Africa who needed medical attention, and this spurred her passion for medicine. She is driven by a love for treating children, helping their parents learn best practices, and watching her patients grow and flourish. After obtaining a B.A. in Biology at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Spraggins went on to continue her education at the Duke University School of Medicine. She followed up medical school with a residency in pediatrics at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, after which

In effort to improve the health of mothers and babies, World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year from August 1st through the 7th. This also commemorates the Innocenti Declaration signed in August of 1990 by government policy makers, UNICEF, the WHO, and other organizations in effort to promote, protect, and support breastfeeding. This global campaign is purposed to raise awareness with the objective to inform, anchor, engage, and galvanize action in relation to themes that relate to breastfeeding and its benefits. According to the WHO, breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways to ensure the health and survival of