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…
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…
By Gabe Mirkin, M.D. “You Can Exercise Yourself to Death, Says New Study” was the headline in The New York Post on October 17, 2017. Headlines like that are likely to discourage people from exercising and thus to shorten their lives. The entire article was a disturbing and offensive misinterpretation of a study from the…
By Gabe Mirkin, M.D. More than 80 percent of North Americans over the age of 85 suffer from some form of dementia. A new study in rats helps to explain why exercise could help to prevent or delay this dreaded condition (Sci Rep, 2017 Sep 7;7(1):10903). A group of rats were kept in cages that…
By Gabe Mirkin, M.D. If it hurts to touch a point that’s in the middle of one side of your buttocks, you probably have piriformis syndrome. This chronic condition is very difficult to diagnose, because other injuries may produce exactly the same symptoms. Similar pain may be the result of an injury to bones, muscles,…
