Medical

By Gabe Mirkin, M.D. Countless studies have shown that exercise helps to prevent heart attacks, but some researchers have found scarring in heart muscle and increased plaques in the heart arteries of men who have run many marathons and triathlons, resulting in news headlines warning of "too much exercise." A study of 50 men who ran 3,510 marathons showed that some of these … [Read more...] about Can You Exercise Too Much?

By Gabe Mirkin, M.D. Eighty percent of North Americans have X-ray evidence of osteoarthritis by age 65, and 60 percent have significant joint pain. A recent study compared the size of knee cartilage in: 176 skeletons of people who lived from 6000 to 300 years ago (from U.S. museums) 1,581 skeletons of people who died between 1905 and 1940, during the early industrial … [Read more...] about Osteoarthritis has Doubled in the Last Fifty Years

By Gabe Mirkin, M.D. The American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology and nine other heart health groups now agree that you have high blood pressure if your blood pressure is above 130/80, not 140/90 as the previous guidelines recommended (American Heart Association's annual meeting, November 13, 2017). This means that 46 percent of North American adults now … [Read more...] about The New Blood Pressure Guidelines

By Gabe Mirkin, M.D. For many years HDL cholesterol has been called "good" because it carries plaque-forming particles from your arteries and bloodstream back to your liver, where they can be removed from your body. An exciting new study from Texas Medical Center shows that regular HDL cholesterol may not be very effective in doing this, but another form called Nascent HDL … [Read more...] about HDL Cholesterol: a New Understanding

By Gabe Mirkin, M.D. A recently published study suggests that stents placed in arteries leading to the heart have not been shown to cure chest pain (Lancet, Nov 2, 2017). Placing stents in people who have heart pain from narrowed arteries and giving them medication is not more effective in relieving pain than just giving them medication and no stents. Stents do help to … [Read more...] about New Study Points to Best Use of Stents