Any dopers follow Dr. Gabe Mirkin?

In My Humble Opinion
1

http://www.drmirkin.com/

I used to listen to his show all the time when it was on WRC (am 980). That was about 3-4 years ago, and since then the station has become (I think) sports talk. Probably the main reason I listened was that free medical advice seemed like a bargain, never mind that I didn’t have any of the afflictions the callers were seeking advice on.

I never knew what to think about his advice, but he sure would get non-stop accolades from his 2nd & 3rd time callers. He was a big fan of “whole grains” diets and was heavily critical of processed flour & sugar, which he claimed were nothing more than pasty mucilage that would glue up your insides should you be foolish enough to consume them in any quantity. Coincidentally, perhaps, he also took every opportunity to hawk his whole grains cooking device (a modified thermos {I think}), which basically slow-cooked whatever grains you put into it.)

There hardly seemed to be an affliction that he couldn’t spot-diagnose over the phone, although he always punctuated his advice with “be sure to see your doctor about that”. He frequently advised his callers that their PCPs were either lazy or incompitent because they failed to diagnose (for example) lung congestion that Mirkin could easily hear during the call.

He occasionally made claims that he scooped the medical community at large on issues such as the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids and H. Pylori being a root cause of gastritis leading eventually to ulcers. Yes, Dr. Mirkin was not a man to refrain from blowing his own horn, and always seems to have something to say on just about any medical topic. But never the less, his show was enjoyable.

So do any of my fellow dopers follwo the good doctor, on whichever stations happen to be carrying him these days? I would be particularly interested to hear what our resident MDs have to say, or if they’ve even heard of him.

2

A bump for the Friday morning crowd :cool:

3

Well, I never heard of him, but a quick tour of his website shows several things:

  1. He gives a link to http://www.quackwatch.com , always a promising sign (it’s over on the left, under “DrM recommends”).

  2. He says, on the subject of breast enlargement creams:

And he goes on to crisply debunk the major claims of breast creams.

  1. Under his list of Recommended Books, he has that old standby, the Merck Manual, and he freely admits to having written the “sports injuries and exercise training” segment.

  2. And he’s got cites for all his linked articles.

So he may be a whole foods proponent, but he doesn’t sound like a nut. He actually sounds like my kind of guy. I’ve always had a thing for doctors who tell me, “There is no such thing as cellulite.” :smiley:

4

I used to listen to him and always thought he gave good advice but I lost track when WRC980 changed format. I believe Dr Mirkin suffered a stroke or something some years ago so I was not sure if he was still active. I think his wife also participates in his newsletter and helps him out.

I also used to listen to Bruce Williams on 980 but I lost track of him too…