How the 'sexiest doctor alive' transformed viral fame into health education for millions
Most children don't witness their parents' struggle to become doctors. But Dr. Mikhail Varshavski remembers watching his father, a physician from Russia, tackle medical school and residency all over again in America.
"My father decided to pursue medical education, yet again, in a new country, in a new language for the second time in his life, bless his heart," Varshavski told Fox News Digital. "I fell in love with the field, and I realized this is the only thing I want to do for the rest of my life."
Being labeled "sexiest doctor alive" wasn't part of that plan, but Varshavski has leveraged the superficial attention into a way to provide health information to millions.
Top Trump Admin Health Officials Share Vision For Hhs To 'Make America Healthy Again'
Varshavski's family immigrated to the United States from Russia when he was six years old, seeking a better life. The transition came with challenges, though.
"We had to restart our lives completely from scratch," he said. His mother, a Ph.D. math professor, swept floors to pay the bills while his father, who had been a physician in their home country, repeated the arduous process to become a doctor again.
Read On The Fox News App
Varshavski followed in his father's footsteps, completing an accelerated, seven-year combined program for a bachelor's degree in life sciences and a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree at the New York Institute of Technology.
He was also building a following on Instagram before he started his residency in 2014. Then came the "15 minutes of fame," Varshavski said.
Buzzfeed published an article in August 2015 titled "Um, You Really Need To See This Hot Doctor And His Dog," a compilation of Instagram photos of Varshavski and his husky. People Magazine dubbed Varshavski the "sexiest doctor alive" in November 2015.
The superficial spotlight took Varshavski aback. At first.
"This isn't the attention I'm trying to get," he recalled thinking at the time. "I would like to educate people. I want to celebrate healthcare. I wanna put good information out there."
Trump Fda Overhauls Covid-19 Vaccine Approval To Focus On Older Populations, High-risk Individuals
Major news outlets and talk shows flocked to book him, but the media frenzy ended fast. If the "gatekeepers" wouldn't let him talk about the topics he cared about — vaccines, nutrition, physical activity — he would have to do it himself, he said.
He launched his YouTube channel, "Doctor Mike," inspired by a recurring theme he noticed in his day job.
"Patients were being misled by something they read online or saw on television, usually in the form of a late-night infomercial," he said.
This not only distracted patients from "putting in work like improving their diet, getting seven to nine hours of sleep, exercising [and] maintaining a healthy mental state," but it also spurred some to take "questionable medications and supplements," Varshavski said.
He realized he could reach more than just the 30-40 patients he saw each day in person. He now boasts about 14 million subscribers on YouTube.
"At a time where patients' first instinct … is to look at their phones, I wanted to be there for them," he said. "Just like family doctors are there for our patients when they're in the hospital, when they are in the nursing home, when they can't leave their home, and they're bed-bound, we're there."
In addition to his videos talking about everything from high blood pressure to nutrition labels, and reacting to popular medical dramas or TikTok videos, Varshavski has also interviewed celebrities, medical professionals, and political guests, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, former Vice President Kamala Harris and current FDA commissioner Dr. Marty Makary.
The New Jersey-based doctor still balances his online fame with his job seeing patients, most of whom don't recognize him as a celebrity, Varshavski said.
"The ones that do recognize me are very excited," he said. "I can't tell you how much joy it brings me to have a child who's nervous to go the doctor face light up because it's the doctor that they saw on YouTube."
Varshavski will be on "Fox & Friends" on Tuesday, May 27.Original article source: How the 'sexiest doctor alive' transformed viral fame into health education for millions
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time Business News
an hour ago
- Time Business News
Have You Seriously Considered The Option Of Orale Steroïden?
Steroid tablets may cause side-effects if taken for an extended period, such as osteoporosis and weight gain. You can minimize these side effects by taking calcium and vitamin D supplements, exercising regularly and refraining from smoking. Always carry with you a red or blue steroid emergency card provided by the person prescribing or dispensing your medicine, which outlines your dosage and medical condition to healthcare providers. Trustworthiness Online purchasing of steroids offers convenience, yet also poses certain risks to buyers' health and legal repercussions. Furthermore, counterfeit or unregulated products could be purchased. Therefore, buyers should ensure their vendors are legitimate by doing a detailed investigation and reviewing customer feedback as well as looking for professional website designs, secure payment options and transparent shipping policies from them. Steroids are powerful substances that can dramatically change how the body functions if taken under medical guidance and with other substances. If taken alone or taken by people not familiar with them, however, steroids can be potentially lethal. Google-owned YouTube and Facebook make it easy for potential steroid users to obtain appearance and performance-enhancing drugs (APEDs) without prescriptions, with searches for specific names of APEDs leading to videos providing contact details and instructions on purchasing them; other searches pointed towards bodybuilding or fitness model websites hosting content about steroids containing relevant terms relating to them. In addition, most websites did not present accurate information about use or risks and declined legal responsibility when selling illegal substances – all making life easy for steroid buyers. Customer service Purchase of steroids online requires taking into consideration several aspects to ensure its legality and safety, such as regional regulations, product authenticity and effectiveness, payment security measures and shipping policies. Users also often evaluate customer service by testing responsiveness and helpfulness of support teams. Steroids may be illegally used to enhance athletic performance, such as marathon running or swimming. Unfortunately, long-term or high dose use of these substances can have adverse side effects; to ensure safety it's important to consult a doctor first when considering taking steroids. As mentioned previously, steroids may interact with certain medicines, increasing your risk of side-effects. This is particularly relevant if taken in combination with NSAIDs that cause stomach ulcers; additionally, steroids can make you less sensitive to pain – this could pose problems if recovering from surgery or experiencing injury and this could result in serious health complications if left unchecked. Payment options Steroids may help treat flare-ups of rheumatoid arthritis, lupus or gout. Steroids can be taken in various forms; from tablets to liquids or creams or injections. Some individuals experience side effects from taking steroids; usually mild and they subside once treatment stops; this is more likely to happen when dosage levels are increased or taken for extended periods. Your treating provider will monitor your symptoms closely and may adjust dosage if symptoms worsen over time. Steroid tablets often cause more side effects than creams or injections because they enter the bloodstream, where they can have widespread impact. Steroid tablets may lead to weight gain and increased appetite; increase infection risks; raise pre-diabetes risks and bolster diabetes or pre-diabetes risks; slow growth rates among children or teenagers and require periodic height checks for those taking them; these adverse reactions must all be carefully considered before choosing which form of treatment would work best. Some individuals combine multiple anabolic steroids together, or 'stack', in order to enhance their effects. Others may 'pyramid' their use by gradually increasing doses over a period of time before stopping for a time so their bodies can recover. Product availability Steroids are powerful tools that can help increase muscle mass, boost strength, and enhance performance. But to avoid unwanted side effects and legal complications, orale steroïden must only be purchased from reliable licensed providers like myroidshop1 net/nl/. Steroids carry potential side effects and may even be illegal in certain countries, making it essential to understand the various legal implications when purchasing online. Doing your research thoroughly on this subject will enable you to make wiser purchase decisions while avoiding potential legal ramifications. Dianabol, Clenbuterol and Trenbolone are among the most widely available anabolic steroids on the market. All three compounds are known to accelerate muscle growth and fat loss and can be found in high doses on the market. Be wary of untrustworthy suppliers who sell counterfeit or substandard steroids that could pose health risks to users. TIME BUSINESS NEWS
The Hill
8 hours ago
- The Hill
New COVID variant causes ‘razor blade throat'
Patients and doctors say the latest COVID-19 variant spreading in the U.S. in some cases causes a sore throat so painful it has earned the nickname 'razor blade throat.' The 'Nimbus' variant, which is officially known as NB.1.8.1., is a descendant of the Omicron is currently being monitored by the World Health Organization. 'Your throat is so dry, so cracked, it's so painful, it's even hard to drink sometimes,' Muhammad Azam, a physician with Sharp Community Medical Group in California, told ABC 10. The variant was first identified in January. It has since been found around the globe, including in Canada and at least 13 states in the U.S. Apart from 'razor blade throat,' it causes symptoms similar to other Omicron variants of the virus, like cough, fever, fatigue, muscle aches, congestion, headache, nausea, vomiting and loss of smell or taste, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 'Sore throat has been a part of the spectrum of COVID from the beginning,' said Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. 'It is something that we know occurs just like it occurs with many other respiratory viruses.' Most cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. are still caused by the LP.8.1. strain, but the NB.1.8.1 variant is becoming increasingly prominent. According to CDC data, 38 percent of COVID cases stem from the LP.8.1 strain while 37 percent of COVID cases now stem from the 'Nimbus' variant. The agency notes on its website that, given the low number of virus sequences being reported, its precision is low. NB.1.8.1 does not appear to be any more of a global threat than other variants, according to the WHO. The organization also said that the existing COVID-19 vaccines provide adequate protection against severe illness and hospitalization caused by the new variant. Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, told ABC News that most COVID patients are reporting sore throat. 'I think it's certainly amongst the spectrum of symptoms that you can get, and we know that sore throat is reported by about 70% of patients now with COVID, so it's not unusual, and like with everything in medicine, there's always a spectrum,' he said.
New York Post
9 hours ago
- New York Post
Bill Gates shares ‘next phase of Alzheimer's fight' as he speaks about his father's personal battle
Bill Gates is speaking out about his personal experience with Alzheimer's — and his hope for progress in fighting the disease. In an essay published this week on his blog at the Microsoft co-founder and tech billionaire, 69, reflected on the difficulty of spending another Father's Day without his dad, Bill Gates Sr. Advertisement The elder Gates passed away in 2020 at the age of 94 after battling Alzheimer's. 'It was a brutal experience, watching my brilliant, loving father go downhill and disappear,' Gates wrote in the blog post. Today, motivated by his own experience with the common dementia, Gates — who serves as chair of the Gates Foundation — is committed to working toward a cure for the common dementia, which currently affects more than seven million Americans, or one in nine people over 65. In his blog, Gates expressed optimism about the 'massive progress' being made in the fight against Alzheimer's and other dementias. Advertisement Last year, Gates said he visited Indiana University's School of Medicine in Indianapolis to tour the labs where teams have been researching Alzheimer's biomarkers. 5 Bill Gates (left) is speaking out about his personal experience with Alzheimer's — and his hope for progress in fighting the disease. Brian Ach 'I also got the opportunity to look under the hood of new automated machines that will soon be running diagnostics around the world,' he wrote. 'It's an exciting time in a challenging space.' One of the biggest breakthroughs in Alzheimer's research, according to Gates, is blood-based diagnostic tests, which detect the ratio of amyloid plaques in the brain. (Amyloid plaques, clumps of protein that accumulate in the brain, are one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's.) Advertisement 'I'm optimistic that these tests will be a game-changer,' Gates wrote. 5 The elder Gates passed away in 2020 at the age of 94 after battling Alzheimer's. Bloomberg via Getty Images Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first blood-based test for patients 55 years and older, as Fox News Digital reported at the time. Traditionally, Gates noted, the primary path to Alzheimer's diagnosis was either a PET scan (medical imaging) or spinal tap (lumbar puncture), which were usually only performed when symptoms emerged. Advertisement The hope is that blood-based tests could do a better job of catching the disease early, decline begins. 5 Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first blood-based test for patients 55 years and older, as Fox News Digital reported at the time. – 'We now know that the disease begins 15 to 20 years before you start to see any signs,' Gates wrote. 'A simple, accurate and easy-to-run blood test might one day make routine screening possible, identifying patients long before they experience cognitive decline,' he stated. Gates said he is often asked, 'What is the point of getting diagnosed if I can't do anything about it?' Start and end your day informed with our newsletters Morning Report and Evening Update: Your source for today's top stories Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters To that end, he expressed his optimism for the future of Alzheimer's treatments, noting that two drugs — Lecanemab (Leqembi) and Donanemab (Kisunla) — have gained FDA approval. 'Both have proven to modestly slow down the progression of the disease, but what I'm really excited about is their potential when paired with an early diagnostic,' Gates noted. Advertisement He said he is also hopeful that the blood tests will help speed up the process of enrolling patients in clinical trials for new Alzheimer's drugs. 5 The hope is that blood-based tests could do a better job of catching the disease early, decline begins. Monkey Business – To accomplish this, Gates is calling for increased funding for research, which often comes from federal grants. 'This is the moment to spend more money on research, not less,' he wrote, also stating that 'the quest to stop Alzheimer's has never had more momentum.' Advertisement 'There is still a huge amount of work to be done — like deepening our understanding of the disease's pathology and developing even better diagnostics,' Gates went on. 5 Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, his wife Melinda, far left, his father Bill Gates Sr., and his step-mother Mimi Gates pose for a photo in 2007. AP Gates pointed out that when his father had Alzheimer's, it was considered a 'death sentence,' but that is starting to change. Advertisement 'I am blown away by how much we have learned about Alzheimer's over the last couple of years,' he wrote. 'I cannot help but be filled with a sense of hope when I think of all the progress being made on Alzheimer's, even with so many challenges happening around the world. We are closer than ever before to a world where no one has to watch someone they love suffer from this awful disease.'
