Robert Lufkin, MD
Academic physician; covers prevention/longevity, population health, and health‑innovation trends.
Muscle Atrophy Driven by Intrinsic Aging, Not Nerve Damage
I teach medical students that nerve damage causes muscle wasting. New research says we had it backwards. Scientists at MDI Biological Lab engineered "atrofish" -- zebrafish that compress DECADES of human muscle aging into weeks by activating the Atrogin-1 gene. What they found upends the textbook: As muscle fibers degenerated, neuromuscular junct... https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02/decades-muscle-atrophy-weeks-transgenic.html Sarcopenia #MuscleHealth #Aging #Longevity #MetabolicHealth
Modern Health Advances Make 60‑year‑olds Feel Younger
Look at photos of 60 year olds from 1985. Then look at 60 year olds today. It's not even close. Something fundamentally shifted -- and it's not just skincare or fashion. We know more about sleep, metabolic health, strength training, and inflammation...
MRNA Nanoparticles Teach Beta Cells to Prevent Type 1 Diabetes
As a medical school professor, I can tell you: what we've been doing for type 1 diabetes is managing, not curing. University of Chicago scientists just changed the game. They developed mRNA-loaded nanoparticles that deliver genetic instructions directly to insulin-producing beta cells,...
Cholesterol Isn’t the Enemy; Seed Oil Myths Persist
Seed oils instead of butter? I wish we could blame Fabio, but back then (1996) most authorities said the same thing. Today, many of them are either dead, obese, or shooting up Ozempic. Many still living believe that eating cholesterol is...
Octogenarians Redefine Aging by Building Muscle
The New Octogenarians 80 year old Rafael Vera decided he'd rather build his body than just waste away playing bingo in a retirement home. He has more muscle than most men at any age. He is part of a new generation of octogenarians reinventing...
AI‑designed Sensors Promise Earlier Cancer Detection
As a medical school professor, I can tell you: we catch most cancers too late. MIT and Microsoft may have just changed that forever. They built an AI system called CleaveNet that designs molecular sensors detecting cancer enzymes called proteases --...
Live 3-Day Water Fast Kickoff with Josh Duhamel
Josh Duhamel and I are about to start our live call to our community of >5000 who registered for our quarterly 3 day water fast for health at 11 a PT. Join our community here: https://fastforhealth.co/ Or just watch the live feed...
Starting a 3-Day Water Fast for Health Reset
In 24 hours, I'm beginning a 3-day water fast to reset my health. If you want to do it together, you're welcome to join: https://fastforhealth.co/
The Cholesterol Myth: How Doctors Misled Heart Health
Cholesterol and heart disease- how we got to the crazy place we are today with unhealthy recommendations by doctors and the AHA: https://mindandmatter.substack.com/p/the-cholesterol-cult-and-heart-mafia https://x.com/trikomes
Insulin‑Lowering Diets Show Promise for Metastatic Cancer
Insulin lowering diets and metastatic disease. The results are promising but we need more studies that are adequately powered to evaluate whether insulin-lowering diets improve cancer outcomes. On the other hand, there appears to be little downside. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36079800/
Stool Test Detects 90% of Colorectal Cancers
As a medical school professor, I've watched colorectal cancer screening rely on colonoscopies for decades. That era may be ending. Researchers at the University of Geneva just published a breakthrough in Cell Host & Microbe: a simple stool test that detects...
Cool Chronic Inflammation: Ancient Ayurveda Meets Modern Science
Ancient Health Secrets Revealed Pain that creeps in, brain fog that lingers, weight that resists every effort—what if the culprit isn't "just getting older," but inflammaging? We sit down with Dr. Shivani Gupta, author of The Inflammation Code, to connect ancient...
Metabolism, Not Plaques, Drives Early Alzheimer’s Decline
As a medical school professor, I now believe the biggest mistake in Alzheimer's research was ignoring metabolism. A comprehensive Frontiers in Neurology review makes the case clear: mitochondrial dysfunction and metabolic failure happen YEARS before amyloid plaques or memory loss. The evidence...
Target Insulin Resistance, Inflammation for Superior Diet Benefits
As a medical school professor, I teach my students about DASH, Mediterranean, and other "healthy" diets. They all help. But new research shows they're not targeting the right pathways. A massive study of 205,852 adults followed for 32 YEARS found that metabolic...
Young Mitochondria Transplants Could Reverse Aging and Disease
What if aging, ALS, Parkinson's, stroke, and diabetes all share a single upstream cause — and the fix is a transplant the size of a bacterium? Dr. Catherine Baucom and Van Hipp of MitoSense explain how injecting healthy young mitochondria...
