Dr. Phil Hariram's Health Blog

Image via Wikipedia

Gout is a form of inflammatory arthritis. In gout, crystals of uric acid is deposited in and around the joints. For this deposit of urate to occur, the circulating level of uric acid in the blood must be higher than normal.
Gout has been recorded through the centuries. Hippocrates wrote about it and urate [...]

Image by rogercarr via Flickr

Winter poses a few problems for patients with arthritis especially arthritis of the hips and knees. Your driveway, the pavements and the roads are often wet and slippery. Early morning frost or ice on the road is also a problem. There is a risk of slipping and falling.
In addition the cold [...]

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, [...]

Here is food for thought. Eating the correct food can reduce the risk of cancer. According to a report from the World Cancer Research Fund eating red meat or processed meat and drinking alcohol increase the risk of cancer. It is estimated that up to a third of cancers reported in Britain are linked to [...]

A Group led by Professor Irving Kirsch, at the Department of Psychology at the University of Hull, looked at 47 clinical trials using data from Freedom of Information rules by the US Food and Drug Administration. They looked at the most commonly used anti-depressants such as fluoxetine (Prozac), venlafaxine (Efexor) and [...]

Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer in Britain. It is estimated that more than 30,000 people annually are diagnosed with it and 16,000 dies from it every year. This cancer is treatable if caught early. Many sufferers leave it too long before seeking medical help. This delay can result in spread from the [...]

Polyclinics will be the most radical change in the NHS for over 60 years. In London a network of 150 polyclinics are planned. These clinics will be equipped with x-rays, ultrasound etc and will carry out as much as 50% of the outpatients clinics done at the Hospital. The concept was introduced by the new [...]

Image via Wikipedia

When I became a General Practitioner in 1977, there were limited options for treating anxiety and depression.
In addition, the nearest Psychiatric Hospital, Severalls, was in Colchester, a distance away. There were huge gaps in the treatment of this group of patients.
Once anxiety or depression was diagnosed, the next step was a prescription of [...]