Long acting proton pump inhibitors to reduce the incidence of gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) has skyrocketed in recent years.  

For those people who require this type of therapy, it certainly is a God-send, but as with all chronic use of medications, there are worries about various side-effects and long term use health impacts.  Obviously, if there is a more natural way to help reduce GERD, that would be preferable.  (Don't start, stop or modify your use based on this article.  Only modify your use after instruction from your physician).

A significant element to GERD is what you eat and drink.  A recent article supports the reduction of coffee, tea and soft-drinks and replacement with ... you guessed it ... water!

 Read more about this topic in this recent article by Mehta, et. al. 

GERD article link

WhiteCoat Risk Management provides these articles to help improve general risk awareness in all aspects of your life.  It is not...

I ran across a guide from the Harvard health group. There were a number of different articles, but one caught my eye....A guide to the wonders of walking.

While this blog typically looks at risks, in this case, we will look at the opposite - the benefits of doing something, in this case, walking.

The risk that faces you is this:  Walking is so easy, why would you risk the following health issues by not walking on a regular basis?

The benefits of regular walking (AKA...avoiding the risk of not walking!)

So let's dive in.  

Walking is easy and most of us have done this since we were young. Why stop now when there are so many health benefits?

Let's list some of the benefits...

• Walking helps reduce cardiovascular disease.  For women, walking 3 or more hours a week reduced the risk of dying from heart disease by 35%.
  • You don't need to walk a lot or fast to enjoy the benefit.  5 1/2 miles per week (3/4 mile per day)...