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Lowcarbarama is a gathering place for links and pointers to all sort of things relevant to low-carb: articles, blogs, interviews, Web sites, forums. It's a place for commentary on health and nutrition in public policy, the sciences and the media. Comments are welcome anytime, regardless of the post's date.


Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Myths surrounding Dr. Atkins's death

In April 2003,just as low-carb was posed to explode onto the mainstream media and diet news scene, Dr. Atkins, who was largely responsible for bringing this approach into view, died.

He slipped on an icy Manhattan sidewalk, hit his head and was dead days later, after languishing in a hospital bed.

Probably because his nutritional approach was controversial, rumors started that it was his diet that killed him. Tragically, this has become a pervasive myth. It's even begun to appear in print over the years that have elapsed since then. At least one diet book critical of his work even uses the phrase "Why Dr. Atkins is dead" as part of its subtitle.

Here's an item on the Smoking Gun web site that clears up the nonstory of what killed Dr. Atkins. Thanks to SkeeterD on the Lowcarbfriends.com forum for posting it there. It includes a facsimile of the doctor's death certificated, which lists "blunt impact injury of head with epidural hematoma" as the cause of death.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/bloombergatkins1.html

Mayor Bloomberg ignorant of Atkins' death cause

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