Dr. Ben Kim's blog

A study published in a recent edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association indicates that taking heartburn drugs like Nexium, Prilosec, or Prevacid for one year or longer can significantly increase the risk of experiencing a hip fracture in people over 50 years of age.

According to IMS Health, a corporation that tracks drug sales all over the world, Nexium is one of the most popular drugs in the world, second only to the cholesterol drug Lipitor. Sales of Nexium totaled $4.6 billion in 2005. Read more

One of the best gifts that we received for Christmas was a small kit of emergency items that we now have tucked away in the trunk of our car in case we ever find ourselves stuck on the road this winter.

If you do not have such a kit in your car, I encourage you to use the following list to prepare one as soon as possible. Read more

Jealousy. Nowhere is this emotion more evident than in a toddler who suddenly finds a new baby in the house to gobble up mommy's and daddy's attention.

My mother-in-law once told me about walking into a room to see her then-5-year-old son about to smother his infant sister's (my wife) face with a pillow. In the same breath of laughter, she went on to tell of another time when she was nursing her youngest, when suddenly, her baby screamed in pain. My mother-in-law wheeled around to discover that her son had pinched his baby sister on the arm while he was behind his mother's back. Read more

Is there a soul among us who cannot help but appreciate the laid-back nature of the slow and steady turtle? Last week, I ran across a fascinating article on the world's most lovable reptile.

What follows are some amazing facts about turtles that I learned from the Times article:

1. Due in large part to its slow metabolism, a turtle can survive for centuries. In March of 2005, a giant tortoise named Adwaita died in a Calcutta zoo at 250 years of age.

A report issued on Tuesday, December 5, 2006 by Ontario's auditor general indicates that children in Ontario are often exposed to unnecessary amounts of ionizing radiation when they get a CT scan, also known as a CAT scan. Read more

A study published in the November, 2006 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition indicates that eating bacon and skinless chicken on a regular basis can significantly increase one's risk of developing bladder cancer.

Data on more than 130,000 people over the course of 22 years was examined by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health. Their key findings were as follows: Read more

When you have to sit for long periods of time, do you naturally tend to slide your bum forward so that your lower back is slightly reclined? If so, you might consider purchasing a chair that has a built-in reclining feature. Read more