Gerty Cori’s Nobel Prize
Gerty Cori was the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, in 1947, for the discovery of how muscles covert sugar to lactic acid for energy during exercise and how the lactic acid then travels in the bloodstream to the liver where it is...
Cold Weather May Help You Lose Weight
A new study shows that exposing mice to cold temperatures increases their body’s production of calorie-burning "brown fat" (Molecular Cell, published online Jan. 8, 2015). You have two types of fat in your body: • white fat that your body stores when you...
Andre the Giant and Acromegaly
Andre the Giant was a professional wrestler who at 7′ 4″ and 520 pounds, won the World Wrestling Federation individual championship and World Tag Team Championship. He was also an actor in several Hollywood films. His huge size was caused by a pituitary gland brain tumor that produced huge amounts of human growth hormone.
Why Nuts Won’t Make You Fat
Nuts are a rich source of fat, but many studies have shown that the fat in nuts is absorbed very poorly. This month a study explains why nuts are not fattening.
Ignaz Semmelweis, Antiseptic Pioneer
One of the saddest stories of a prophet who was treated as a quack by his contemporaries is that of Ignaz Semmelweis. In 1847, at age 29, he was the chief obstetrician in charge of two maternity clinics in a hospital in Vienna. The first clinic was at a medical school...
Cancer Is Not Just a Random Disease
A recent study from respected researchers at Johns Hopkins claims that two-thirds of adult cancers are caused by random DNA mutations in your cells, and far fewer cancers are caused by genetics, lifestyle or exposure to cancer-causing agents.
Itzhak Perlman and Polio
Itzhak Perlman is arguably the most brilliant and beloved violinist of the 20th century and so far in the 21st. He is also so knowledgeable and coordinated that he has conducted many major orchestras. This is incredible because both of his legs are paralyzed from an...
Arthritis and Antibiotics – Archive from DrMirkin.com before 2015
Archive from website before 2015
How Red Meat May Increase Risk for Cancer
This week, Dr. Ajit Varki of the University of California at San Diego showed for the first time that feeding genetically-engineered mice a sugar called Neu5Gc, found in red meat, caused them to produce anti-Neu5Gc antibodies that caused spontaneous cancers...
Zinc Neither Prevents Nor Treats Colds
Millions of North Americans take zinc lozenges to treat their colds. A study in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed that they neither shorten the cold nor lessen its symptoms. Another study from the University of Virginia showed that zinc nasal sprays do not prevent or treat the common cold.