Robert Blum Website

Robert L. Blum, MD, PhD

Health & Biotechnology

Optimal Nutrition: Are Fats Killers or Saviors?
Here are the keys to happiness: HEALTH, WEALTH, KNOWLEDGE, WORK,
LOVE, and FREEDOM. Health always comes first; as the saying goes
- without it, you have nothing.
Now, here are the keys to good health: nutrition, sleep, exercise, freedom from toxins, and freedom from stress. Nutrition is a difficult piece to get right, but it is
worth the effort. You are a community of ten trillion cells, each in continuous equilibrium with what you eat. So, what is the optimal recipe?
Say you eat 2400 calories per day, and let's say 400 calories are protein.
How many of the remaining 2000 calories should come from carbs and (hence)
how many should be from fats (the remainder). This issue has vexed medical researchers
for decades. Here, I examine the issue in detail and show you
the best of what is available free on the internet.

Whole Genome for a Hundred Dollars
I was just at the Foresight 2010 nanotech conference. One of the show-stoppers
was this brief video showing Pacific Biosciences' SMRT tech which sequences DNA bases
in real-time (msecs) as DNA polymerase incorporates each base:
an outstanding example of genomics riding Moore's law.

Calorie Restriction Slows Aging in Monkeys
This is a "stop-the-presses" story that broke in July, 2009. A 20 year long study found
that Rhesus monkeys fed a nutritious, low-calorie diet had far less heart disease, cancer, and diabetes than controls that ate 30% more. Monkeys on the diet out-survived the controls by 50% and had much less cerebral atrophy. Lose weight now! (if you want to look
more like the sleek fellow on your left)

The Inner Life of a Cell
This incredible 3 min.animation was done for Harvard by BioVisions.
Their director, David Bolinksy, tells the story in a longer version presented at TED.
Or, you can hear the detailed biomolecular narration at Harvard's site.
Nanotechnologists, fall on your knees in awe at 4 billion years of evolution's handiwork.

Tim Russert: Dead at 58
The Case for Coronary Artery Calcium CT Scanning
If famed newscaster Tim Russert had had a Coronary CT Scan, he might still be alive.
Here I present the argument for doing a Coronary Artery Calcium Scan.
This is a story with a highly personal angle.

Transcend: A Book Review for Amazon
Transcend is a May 2009 book by Ray Kurzweil and Terry Grossman.
I had avidly read their previous health book, Fantastic Voyage.
This is my review of the book for Amazon. It rates a B+.

Does Drug X Really Work?
This is a long overdue essay on evaluating medical evidence.
My main criticism of Transcend is Ray's and Terry's lack of skepticism.
Every new vitamin or supplement seems to be greeted with unbridled enthusiasm.
I spent 10 years studying biostatistics. The default hypothesis is that
Drug X does NOT Work. This essay shows you what it takes to show that it does.

Transcend Drugs!!!
In my drug evaluation essay above, I emphasized the Natural Standard -
a group of university clinicians that publish comprehensive reviews of supplements.
I looked up each of the supplements in Transcend to see how they were rated by the experts.

Sean's Accident
The saga of my son Sean's broken arm. The photos are not for the faint-hearted.

Synthetic Coronary Artery Bypass Grafts
(Atherosclerotic coronary artery disease is the major killer in the United States.
If the artery was a plugged drain pipe in your kitchen,
you'd simply buy a replacement.
So, why aren't synthetic coronaries available?
This is a brief overview of Cardiotech's progress with its Cardiopass graft.

Automated Discovery: the RX Project
A computer, tirelessly combing through patient records, looking for new medical knowledge - this was my PhD thesis project - an early example of data mining under AI control.
RX won many awards and contracts and was presented worldwide.

Paleo Nutrition in a Nut Shell
The latest fad with a few of my (very smart but non-physician) friends is paleo-nutrition,
as exemplied by PaNu, run by radiologist/ enthusiast Kurt Harris. The above YouTube
clip is five minutes well spent. Here's what I'm confident is right: 1) not eating junk food,
2) keeping fast carbs to a minimum (and thereby minimizing insulin secretion),
3) losing weight if you're fat, 4) being active. Beyond that Dr. Harris and his inspiration,
Gary Taubes of Good Calories, Bad Calories, are on thin ice, evidentially.
Their wholesale rejection of the "cholesterol hypothesis" (hyperlipidemia
as a cause of atherosclerosis) ignores decades of evidence. Consuming vast quantites
of animal fats (saturated fat) to improve your health is dubious and condemned.
(That's not to say that they're wrong; it's just to say there is scant supporting evidence.)
(This is a stub for a longer article. Meanwhile, if your doctor has you on statins
like Lipitor for heart disease, I'd ignore Harris's advice to stop them.)
BTW, high-fructose corn syrup is good for you, according to this "ad" from SNL.

Hard Work and Open Mindedness
Click on the Philosophy button when you get to Nina's website above.
This is a collection of quotes about doing research - it's hard work, so
"you can't rise to the top by sitting on your bottom." And the importance of an open mind,
as in these. "Discard a pet hypotheses every morning before breakfast." And this:
"The great tragedy of Science - the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact." Or this:
"You can sleep with a model, but don't marry a model." And finally, a lesson I learned from
my thesis advisor - thank you, Gio Wiederhold - "Don't worry about people stealing an idea -
If it's original, you will have to ram it down their throats!

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