Most of this Doc Gumshoe posting was ready to go a couple of days before Thanksgiving. But then, you know what happened: the new variant (now named Omicron) surfaced in South Africa. So I finished up another Doc Gumshoe epistle that I had been working on and quickly got it to Travis so I could […]
Author Bio
I have been a medical writer for about 25 years; before that I was a documentary film maker, and some of my films were about medical subjects. I am not a physician, but I have a pretty good scientific background. I wouldn’t dream of recommending any kind of treatment to anyone, and I cannot give medical advice. However, I understand the medical literature and the data and evidence behind it, and I have an inquiring and skeptical turn of mind.I scrutinize and question and, sometimes, challenge the positions of some of the established health-care organizations as well as the marketers of health information. Eternal vigilance is a small price to pay for health. — Michael Jorrin (aka DocGumshoe)Michael Jorrin is a paid contributor to Stock Gumshoe, he has agreed to our trading restrictions but he chooses his own topics and his words and opinions are his own.
Author Archives
November 30, 2021
Thanksgiving Left-Overs 2021
This edition of the epistles of Doc Gumshoe won’t be entirely about Alzheimer’s, but there are Alzheimer’s-related news items that jump to the top, based on timeliness, if nothing more. When Doc Gumshoe last wrote about what was happening on the Alzheimer’s front, a big chunk of the piece was the FDA’s surprising – and […]
November 4, 2021
Epilepsy: New Management Approaches
I recently came across a couple of interesting threads that suggested the possibility of entirely new techniques in the management of epilepsy. One of these came by way of a suggestion from a very helpful Gumshoe denizen, and the other was incorporated in a compelling story about the potential benefits and also potential hazards of […]
October 5, 2021
COVID Updates and October ’21 Miscellany
A friend of ours on the Maine island where we spent our vacation told us that her husband’s surgery had been cancelled at the last minute because the hospital in Portland was swamped with COVID cases, and all elective surgery was cancelled. This notification came at the last possible minute, as they were getting ready […]
August 24, 2021
Responses to Questions and Comments: August 2021
I was hoping to keep COVID-19 out of this piece, but new things keep flooding in, and I can’t totally ignore them. However, I’ll save them to the end of the story. They are both “good news,” more or less, and I like to leave you with a bit of cheer, when possible. Sleep and […]
August 2, 2021
COVID-19: Keeping Up With the Current State of the Pandemic
This will be the thirteenth Doc Gumshoe pronouncement on the COVID-19 pandemic. Lucky or unlucky, I have no idea, but let’s get on with it. To the question “Where are we now?” the answer depends enormously on exactly where, geographically, we are. The differences in the new case and fatality rates in among the different […]
Which means, the more things change, the more they stay the same. The big change in the Alzheimer’s disease world – which you’ve all heard about, no doubt – is that the FDA granted emergency use authorization to aducanumab, now to be named Aduhelm. That happened on the 6th of June. The FDA’s decision elicited […]
June 30, 2021
Understanding Pain
What started me down this path was a promotional piece for a new drug that was purported to suppress pain through a novel mechanism that prevented the nerve signal that conveyed to the brain a sensation that would usually be experienced as painful from actually being painful. In other words, while mincing an onion, you […]
June 7, 2021
Responses to Questions and Selected News Items
Before I launch into the topics of the day, I am going to share with you an opinion piece about the recent CDC guidelines. I find myself in complete concurrence with this piece, which was posted a few weeks ago on MedPage Today, a medical website that is a very helpful source of information for […]
May 6, 2021
May Miscellany – Some Covid-19, Some Otherwise
I’m happy to report that despite the huge quantity of COVID-related news items that flood my in-box (as well as all news media), the tsunami has not drowned other health and medicine-related releases. Now, with the pandemic retreating – and, yes, it really is retreating – let’s use this as an opportunity to bring a […]
April 5, 2021
What’s New on the CRISPR Front?
Aside from the tiny minority of people who can actually say what each of those initials stand for, we can divide the populace into two groups – those who specifically know that CRISPR is a tool used in gene editing and those who know (or figure) that it’s a highly promising but exceedingly complex technique […]
I am not predicting total doom when I say that the current treatment of infectious diseases is under serious threat due to the increasing prevalence of multi-drug-resistant (MDR) pathogens. But germs that have developed ways to escape antibiotic treatment are unquestionably a growing threat. Both the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health […]
March 1, 2021
Where Are We in the COVID-19 Pandemic? – March 2021
This piece was going to be titled “COVID Continued.” Then I thought, “what a depressing title. Nobody wants to read about the continuation of the pandemic. A much more attractive title would be “COVID Terminated.” That’s the headline we want to see. Or, better, that’s the headline we want to believe. How close are we […]
February 11, 2021
Doc Gumshoe’s Responses to Comments and Questions
Many of the comments to these Doc Gumshoe pieces go like this: “What do you know about such-and-such a drug, or about what this or that person (usually a physician) has to say about cancer, or heart disease, or (especially these days) about COVID-19?” My right-off-the-bat response to most of these would usually be “not […]
January 28, 2021
COVID-19 Prospects in the New Year
Believe me, I’ve been looking forward to putting Doc Gumshoe to work on topics other than COVID-19, which is far from being the only disease that affects our health and requires careful attention. But as the global case numbers have topped 85 million, and global deaths are approaching 2 million, COVID-19 demands to be […]
December 22, 2020
Winter Miscellany – December 2020
That title is just to remind you that there’s a whole lot more going on in the health/medical area than COVID-19. But the pandemic has a very large untidy footprint which is making a mark on a great many aspects of health-care in general. One recent example which could not possibly have escaped my […]
Yes, in the midst of a severe global surge in new cases and deaths, there are several genuinely good news items that we can pin our hopes on. Surely, you are aware of some of these, but I will attempt to put them in context. As of yesterday, from the start of pandemic to […]
If the answer to those two questions should turn out to be an unequivocal “Yes!” that would definitely be cause for champagne and fireworks. Sorry to say that for now, at least, we have to put the champagne and fireworks on hold. But, who knows, might there be something – a few snippets […]
November 10, 2020
More About COVID-19: Where Are We Now and Where Are We Headed?
As I write this, both the US and the world are seeing an upsurge in COVID-19. There has been a 46% spike in hospitalized patients, and in the past seven days more than a half-million more Americans have contracted the coronavirus. According to the Johns Hopkins dashboard that tracks COVID-19 cases all over the world, […]
October 22, 2020
COVID 19: What Are Prospects for the Duration?
The term “the duration” immediately recalls the Second World War. Nobody had any idea when it would be over, and so discussions of a lot of World War II-related events and conditions prominently featured the phrase “for the duration” – as in great numbers of combat fatalities would continue to be reported for the duration, […]
Recent Author Comments
Posted on April 13, 2024
Posted on April 10, 2024
Thanks for that fix! I don't like making dumb goofs & appreciate corrections.[...]
Posted on March 20, 2024
I'm overwhelmed by the flood of comments! I need to acknowledge my ignorance about CPAP and related devices to compensate for sleep apnea problems. I did a bit of poking around when I was researching the article & will do some additional sleuthing to t[...]
Posted on September 6, 2023
Thanks very much, but sorry, I know absolutely nothing about Jimmy Buffet.[...]
Posted on July 19, 2023
Can't think why the deaths total should exceed the cases total. Good catch. I'll have to look at other data sources.[...]
Posted on March 6, 2023
Regarding the evidence about the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine entering the human liver cell line in vitro, I'll do a bit of digging around, but my opinion is far, far from expert. Thanks for the hint.[...]
Posted on November 16, 2022
In many previous Doc Gumshoe postings, I have clearly stated that indeed we do make cholesterol from whatever food we eat, and also that we require cholesterol, since it is an essential component of many bodily functions. And, by the way, I have pointed [...]
Posted on November 2, 2022
I've been keeping an eye on TauRX for a couple of years & will not let it out of my sight.[...]
Posted on October 27, 2022
I've discussed Anavex several times & will do so again.[...]
Posted on October 5, 2022
Parkinson's disease is not caused by a virus, although it's not impossible that a viral illness such as flu could have some movement disorders as a side effect.[...]
Posted on September 26, 2022
Here’s the source of the statement about the increase in metastatic prostate cancer since the USPSTF came out against regular PSA screenings in 2012:“In men 45 to 75 years old, there was no statistically significant change in the incidence rate of [...]
Posted on September 23, 2022
No question that MYMD-1 has an interesting mechanism of action - different than Humira or Enbrel, both of which block the TNF. MYMD-1 prevents the formation of TNF by the CD4 cells. But it will be years before they demonstrate efficacy. And I can't [...]
Posted on August 12, 2022
On my agenda - thanks![...]
Posted on August 12, 2022
ALS - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - is an extreme challenge. A friend of a close friend tried to enroll in a clinical trial that was taking place fairly close to where he lived, but unfortunately he died before the trial got started. That trial, w[...]
Posted on August 11, 2022
I know almost nothing about CBD o CBDA, and I have serious doubts about the reliability of the information that's out there about them. Sorry![...]
Posted on August 11, 2022
Thanks for the blush-making compliment! As for cholesterol, it does get deposited in arterial walls, leading to serious problems. Inflammation may partly be what causes that to happen, but cholesterol itself is at least partly a cause, if not THE caus[...]
Posted on July 21, 2022
What I wrote about Anavex was based on the best information I could get from outside sources - not Anavex's own releases. If you have any accurate information sources, please let me know.[...]
Posted on July 19, 2022
No thoughts as of yet - I'll need to do some sleuthing.[...]
Posted on July 19, 2022
No need to apologize!! Doc Gumshoe likes questions![...]
Posted on July 19, 2022
Why don't you read what I wrote?[...]
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More Info Please note that this is your publicly visible biography - we recommend not including any personal information (phone, email, address, etc.) and ONLY linking to any other pages or profiles you're comfortable sharing with everyone.
I have a hard time figuring how gene sequencing is actually going to turn into a money-making venture. No doubt it's interesting, but who's going to pay for putting it to work?[...]