Ben Levinson

By Benjamin Levinson, MD INTRODUCTION The term “Vampire” immediately conjures up an image of a person who fears the sun, sleeps in a coffin during the day, and hunts for victims at night to drink their blood. It is quite a story that many have believed over the centuries. It has been recognized that a possible origin for this legend is a disease called porphyria (1). The term ‘porphyria’ comes from the Greek work ‘purple’ as most people who have this disease see purple...

INTRODUCTION Well, gout is not really the disease of kings, at least not anymore. These days people of all classes are susceptible to the ravages of this painful malady. The purpose of this article is to review the disease from its history, its cause, symptoms and treatment. The word gout comes from the Latin Term gutta which means ‘drop’ as it was thought that diseased material was deposited or ‘dropped’ in the joints. It was likely the best observation that could be made at the time,...

by Benjamin Levinson, MD Drug discovery is a long and complicated process that entails the search for, and development of, an agent (chemical or biological) that will offer treatment of a human malady. A drug company invests extensive time and resources into this search. As one professional has said, ‘We find a chemical or biological substance and then wrap in scientific data to treat a disease of interest.’ This process of discovery begins in the laboratory and only after a successive series...