Dr. Ben Kim's blog

Chronic knee pain comes in three main varieties. The following is a look at common causes of pain and discomfort in and around the knee joint and some points to consider in addressing each of them:

1. Chronic, superficial pain along the inner portion of the knee joint

Shoulder impingement syndrome is a name given to several different conditions that involve inflammation of tendons and/or ligaments in the shoulder region. Read more

Almost all teenagers and adults know how important calcium is to their bones and teeth. But few people know that magnesium is just as important to having strong and healthy bones and teeth.

A recent study out of the University of Tennessee and published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society points to the often overlooked relationship between dietary magnesium intake and bone density. Read more

It's no secret that age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness among the elderly in industrialized countries. It affects more than 10 percent of white adults over the age of 80, and is the number one cause of central vision loss for people 60 years of age and older in the United States. Read more

Dear Dr. Kim,

I am an avid reader of your newsletter and like the greens also very much. Thank you for your wonderful work.

A question for you. I have a good friend and client (I do some home health care for her) who was recently placed in the hospital for severe leg cramping. Since she has congestive heart failure, it was thought that perhaps her heart had thrown off a clot which blocked the circulation.....however, no signs were found of a clot. After several days in the hospital and many, many tests, she was sent home without much additional knowledge. Then, upon entering the house, we got a phone call from the lab saying that her potassium was dangerously low. She has consistently been on the equivalent of 4,500 mg. of potassium per day to counteract the potassium loss from the diuretics she is on for her heart. That has now been changed to 6,000 mg. Read more

Every now and again, my mom likes to teach me a Korean proverb. I think she does this because she knows how much I like learning new Korean phrases and tidbits of Korean culture that I missed having grown up in Canada.

One of the best proverbs that she has ever shared with me translates to:

Like a knife cutting through water.

Now before you start thinking that this proverb is similar to an English metaphor that involves butter, let me set you straight. Read more

During the past few weeks, I've had an unusually high number of people ask me what they can do to relieve nasal and sinus congestion.

The first suggestion I have is to read an article that I wrote about How to Avoid Nasal Congestion.

The second suggestion is to wash our your nasal passageway in the following manner:

1. Stand over your bathroom sink, turn on the cold water, cup your hands together to form a basin-like shape that allows the cold water to pool.

If you've been reading my newsletters and blog for a while now, you've probably sensed that I really enjoy a good movie now and again.

Once in a while, I like to visit Variety.com to get the latest buzz on upcoming movies.

Just yesterday, I was happy to find an article on Variety that talks about Michael Moore's upcoming documentary on the pharmaceutical industry. Read more

The December 2005 issue of Pediatrics presents an important study that looks at reasons why women stop breastfeeding.

The study looked at data over 2 years (2000 and 2001) with the intent to discover:

1. If there are specific periods during which nursing moms are especially vulnerable to giving up breastfeeding. Read more

Do you know someone whose daughter is involved with cheerleading?

If so, you may want to tell him or her about a recent study in the journal Pediatrics, that reports that the number of cheerleaders that suffered concussions, broken bones, lacerations, sprains, and strains increased by more than 100 percent between 1990 and 2002.

According to the author of the study, Brenda Shields, on average, more than 16,000 cheerleaders between the ages of 5 and 18 in the United States visit a hospital emergency room with an injury each year. Read more