Dr. Phil Hariram's Health Blog

When the level of uric acid in the blood is too high, gout can develop. It was known as the patrician’s malady in the past because it was considered a disease of over indulgence amongst the wealthy.
High purine diet can affect gout and red meat is high in purine. The rich ate red meat while [...]

According to Deidre Murphy and Jennifer Walsh, two Obstetricians from Dublin, even small changes in Body Mass Index (BMI) between pregnancies can affect health. Mothers who put on or lose a lot of weight between pregnancies are putting themselves and their babies at risk.
A two unit increase in BMI doubles the risk of having a [...]

My son, in his teens, did not have acne but I noticed that when he went  off on Ice Hockey weekends, he always returned very spotty. At home his diet was controlled but when away he had lots of junk foods.
I always suspected that that there is a strong relationship between diet and acne. A [...]

Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis should benefit from the new range of drugs called Tumour Necrotic Factor Inhibitors (Anti-TNF).
Tests on three of these new drugs slowed progression and reduced symptoms by up to 50%.
Research at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, has shown that these three drugs are most effective in combination with the standard treatment, [...]

GERD sufferers frequently have sleep problems because of nocturnal reflux and due mainly because they are lying flat. The refluxed gastric contents rush up the esophagus and wakes the sufferer.
Elevating the bed has been proven to be a very good idea. It means the esophagus sits higher than the stomach while asleep. Similarly by sleeping [...]

Acid reflux is often worse at night because we sleep lying down and by doing so we lose the benefit of gravity. Most of us have our biggest meal in the evening. This is not a good idea if you have acid reflux. Most of us drink alcohol more often in the evening. If you [...]

Remember Keith from an earlier post? He had gained weight and became obese, drank excessively and smoked far too much. He developed GERD. He had sleep problems. Whatever position he slept, heartburn bothered him. He would sleep for an hour or two only to be awaken by heartburn or fluid rushing upwards into [...]

If you do not have a problem with acid reflux then LES is your friend and obedient servant. He serves you well. He is always attentive and does the right things at the right time. Like most of us, he only occasionally makes a mistake and that is on the odd occasions you put pressure [...]

The commonest symptom of acid reflux is heartburn. Do not worry unnecessarily if you have heartburn. Most of us have heartburn at some time or other especially when we over indulge. Usually a single dose of antacid settles the problem. However, if the heartburn pain returns after treatment and becomes recurrent then the lower esophageal [...]

Acid reflux is a common condition. Heartburn occurs in up to 20% of people weekly and up to 10% of these have erosive esophagitis.
GERD is generally a benign condition with few problems but when symptoms are persistent, it can cause considerable distress.
Retrospective studies have shown that acid reflux patients who initially had normal endoscopies tend [...]