The Smartest Doctor in the Room

Dean Mitchell
  • 3.8 (13)
  • Health & Fitness
  • Updated Weekly

A combination of a lively, personal and in-depth interview with top healthcare specialists. The average listener may not have access to the expert medical advice athletes, actors and CEO’s have today, but on this show, they will learn the key facts to know about any health conditions that they or their family deal with. Hosted by Dr. Dean Mitchell. https://www.mitchellmedicalgroup.com/

  1. 3d ago

    Ep. 241 - TMJ is an Orthopedic Problem - Not a Dental One, Find Out How to Treat

    Jaw pain, clicking, locking, and limited opening affect millions of people, and most patients are told to reduce stress, wear a night guard, or wait it out, without ever learning why the problem started. Dr. Donald Tanenbaum, a specialist in orofacial pain and a Diplomate of the American Board of Orofacial Pain, joins Dr. Dean Mitchell to explain what TMJ actually means (it's a body part, not a diagnosis) and why he treats jaw disorders as orthopedic problems, no different from a hip or a knee. Dr. Tanenbaum walks through the three pathways that drive most jaw problems: physical trauma, chronic stress and the mind-body connection, and underlying medical conditions like thyroid disease, GI dysfunction, and connective tissue disorders. He explains why the neck is one of the most overlooked contributors to jaw pain, why sleep bruxism is driven by the brain rather than a bad habit, and why most people who grind their teeth never develop a problem at all. The conversation also covers the three distinct types of pain (somatic, neuropathic, and nociplastic), why women make up roughly 70 percent of TMD patients, where Botox does and doesn't belong in treatment, and several memorable cases where an "alleged TMD problem" turned out to be something else entirely, including one patient whose jaw pain was actually a heart attack. Dr. Tanenbaum's new book, "Lockjaw: A Human Problem: What You Need to Know to Start Feeling Better," releases in early September 2026. Guest Contact Donald R. Tanenbaum, DDS, MPH Diplomate, American Board of Orofacial Pain | Fellow, American Academy of Orofacial Pain Practice: New York TMJ and Oral Facial Pain NYC office: 630 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1857, New York, NY 10111 — (212) 265-0110 Long Island office: 812 Wheeler Road, Hauppauge, NY 11788 Contact Dr. Mitchell: Email: care@mitchellmedicalgroup.com Website Instagram YouTube Facebook LinkedIn Book: Conquering Candida ImmunoLytics - code SmartestDoc, 5% off Apollo Neuro - code SMARTMD

  2. Sep 8

    Ep. 240 - Diagnosed With 12 Months to Live, He Reversed a Terminal Cancer Prognosis With an Alkaline Diet

    Johann Ilgenfritz was a fashion photographer with no background in healthcare when he was first diagnosed with melanoma in 2011. After two rounds of radiotherapy appeared to clear it, a follow up screening in 2012 found the cancer had metastasized to his eye, lungs, and spleen, and he was given roughly 12 months to live. Ilgenfritz, now the founder of UK Health Radio, joins Dr. Dean Mitchell to share how he approached that second diagnosis differently, starting his own research the same day he got the news. Seven months in, a single sentence from German biochemist Otto Warburg, that cancer cannot survive in an oxygenated, alkaline cellular environment, changed his outlook overnight. Ilgenfritz explains how he became a vegan within weeks, adopted an alkaline diet built around potatoes, leafy greens, and Himalayan salt, added intermittent fasting, and began daily meditation and long distance running, in part because movement is the only way the body's lymphatic system detoxes without a pump. He and Dr. Mitchell also discuss the pH science behind the alkaline approach, why he avoided extreme raw food and juicing protocols in favor of real meals, and how his energy and later his scans began to turn around within months. The conversation closes with how Ilgenfritz's own healing journey led him to found UK Health Radio in 2012, now reaching 1.7 million listeners, and his advice for anyone newly facing a cancer diagnosis: stay open to every tool available, and use them alongside, not instead of, the treatment you and your doctor agree on. Guest Contact Platform: UK Health Radio (founded by Johann Ilgenfritz) Book: Reversing Cancer UK Health Radio (UKHR) website: https://ukhealthradio.com/ UKHR Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UKHealthRadio/ UKHR X: https://x.com/ukhealthradio UKHR Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ukhealthradio/ UKHR YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ukhealthradio Alkaline Collective Mastermind website: https://alkaline-collective.com/ Contact Dr. Mitchell: Email: care@mitchellmedicalgroup.com Website Instagram YouTube Facebook LinkedIn Book: Conquering Candida ImmunoLytics - code SmartestDoc, 5% off Apollo Neuro - code SMARTMD

  3. Sep 1

    Ep. 239 - What Is POTS and Why Are Cases Exploding After COVID and MCAS?

    Cardiologist Dr. Alexis Cutchins joins Dr. Dean Mitchell to break down POTS, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, a condition defined by a heart rate increase of more than 30 beats per minute when moving from lying down to standing, without a drop in blood pressure. Dr. Cutchins explains that POTS is not a single diagnosis but one symptom within a larger picture that frequently overlaps with mast cell activation syndrome, hypermobility, and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. The conversation covers what may be driving the condition, including an autoimmune component, small fiber neuropathy, and vascular compression syndromes such as jugular vein compression and pelvic venous congestion. Dr. Cutchins shares findings from her own published research showing that 83% of her POTS patients had iliac vein compression on imaging, and that stenting the iliac vein helped 70% of patients with orthostatic intolerance. She and Dr. Mitchell also discuss why COVID-19 and long COVID have driven a sharp rise in cases, alongside other triggers like viral infections, Lyme disease, bariatric surgery, and major life stressors. Dr. Cutchins walks through how she evaluates patients, including holter monitoring, echocardiograms, and a 10 minute stand test rather than the tilt table test, which she says can worsen symptoms. She outlines her treatment approach, starting with antihistamines, salt, fluids, and compression, then medications like nadolol, propranolol, ivabradine, calcium channel blockers, fludrocortisone, desmopressin, midodrine, and droxidopa depending on the patient. She also covers which forms of exercise, like swimming, recumbent biking, and strength training, tend to be best tolerated. Guest Contact Social Media: LinkedIn X (Twitter) Instagram Website: Cutchins Cardiovascular Medicine Contact Dr. Mitchell: Email: care@mitchellmedicalgroup.com Website Instagram YouTube Facebook LinkedIn Book: Conquering Candida ImmunoLytics - code SmartestDoc, 5% off Apollo Neuro - code SMARTMD

  4. Aug 25

    Ep. 238 - Why Feeling Safe Is the First Step to Healing Chronic Stress

    Psychiatrist and neuroscientist Dr. Dave Rabin returns to the podcast to discuss his new book, A Simple Guide to Being Alive, and why he believes healing from chronic stress and illness is simpler than most people are taught. Dr. Rabin explains that the autonomic nervous system, specifically the balance between the fight or flight sympathetic response and the rest and digest vagus nerve system, sits at the core of how the body handles stress, illness, and recovery, and that most patients are never taught the basics of how these systems work. Dr. Rabin and Dr. Mitchell talk through why techniques like deep breathing, meditation, and mindfulness work, tracing the idea back to teachings from Jon Kabat-Zinn. Dr. Rabin describes how breathing at five to seven breaths per minute helps the body access a calm, present state, and how his company Apollo Neuroscience developed a wearable device that uses touch based vibration, rather than sound, to raise heart rate variability and vagal tone within two to three minutes, based on research conducted at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. The conversation turns to why Gen Z is showing declines on standardized cognitive testing, and how chronic nervous system stress, screen time, and a lack of in person mentorship may be contributing factors. Dr. Rabin also shares his approach to helping children work through tantrums and difficult emotions, why parents model stress responses for their kids whether they realize it or not, and why physical touch and safe human connection remain central to healing, even as modern medicine has grown more cautious about it. Guest Contact Facebook Twitter/X Instagram LinkedIn Websites: Book: asimpleguidetobeingalive.com Personal/Clinic: drdave.io Apollo Neuroscience: apolloneuro.com The Board of Medicine: boardofmedicine.org Contact Dr. Mitchell: Email: care@mitchellmedicalgroup.com Website Instagram YouTube Facebook LinkedIn Book: Conquering Candida ImmunoLytics - code SmartestDoc, 5% off Apollo Neuro - code SMARTMD

  5. Aug 21

    Health Tip Of The Week

    Simple daily breathwork can meaningfully calm your stress response, Dr. Dean Mitchell explains in this week's tip. A few minutes of slow, deep abdominal breathing tops the list, since most of us breathe shallowly under stress in ways that quietly affect the heart, lungs, and oxygen levels. One striking example: just five minutes a day of basic breathing exercises, easily learned from free videos online, can have a profound effect on overall health. The key is making it a daily habit rather than a one-off fix, then noticing how much steadier you feel handling everyday stress. You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf. For the full conversation, listen to Ep. 238 with Dr. Dave Rabin on The Smartest Doctor in the Room. Contact Dr. Mitchell: Email: care@mitchellmedicalgroup.com Website Instagram YouTube Facebook LinkedIn Book: Conquering Candida ImmunoLytics - code SmartestDoc, 5% off Apollo Neuro - code SMARTMD

  6. Aug 18

    Ep. 237 - Why Radioactive Cancer Treatment May Be Gentler Than Chemotherapy

    Nuclear medicine treatments use very small, carefully controlled amounts of radioactive material that decay to nontoxic levels within minutes to days, making them far less taxing on the body than standard chemotherapy. Cathy Cutler, PhD, FSNMMI, of Brookhaven National Laboratory joins Dr. Mitchell to address the fear many patients feel at the word "nuclear," explaining how these treatments target cancer cells directly while leaving healthy tissue largely untouched. She discusses new alpha-emitting isotopes now helping patients who have run out of other options, the workforce and supply challenges facing the field, and why patients on these therapies often report a far better quality of life than those on traditional chemotherapy. Connect with Cathy Cutler: Social Media: LinkedIn Websites: isotopes.gov Resources/Publications: Radiopharmaceutical Therapy: Rapid Growth, Rising Challenges, and the Critical Need for Expertise — J Nucl Med PET Drugs — 2023 Workshop Proceedings — J Nucl Med Contact Dr. Mitchell: Email: care@mitchellmedicalgroup.com Website Instagram YouTube Facebook LinkedIn Book: Conquering Candida ImmunoLytics - code SmartestDoc, 5% off Apollo Neuro - code SMARTMD

  7. Aug 11

    Ep. 236 - How to Be Prepared for Any Medical Emergency When Help Isn’t Immediately Available

    If a tooth gets knocked out, place it between the cheek and gum immediately, since the chance of successfully saving it drops by roughly 10% every ten minutes if it isn't found. In this episode, Dr. Joseph Alton (Dr. Bones) and Nurse Amy Alton join Dr. Mitchell to break down what it actually takes to be medically prepared when help isn't immediately available. They cover why a $30 to $35 military-grade tourniquet belongs in every car and go-bag, how the stretchy SWAT tourniquet is designed to fit children who can't be treated with standard sizes, and why hemostatic dressings should be paired with any tourniquet for serious bleeding. They also explain how raw, unprocessed honey is used in hospitals to treat burns and staph-resistant wounds, how two drops of clove oil mixed with zinc oxide can form a temporary dental filling in a pinch, and why staying calm with an injured person can be just as important as the medical supplies themselves. Dr. Alton and Nurse Amy also share the real story of a nurse whose emergency kit helped her save two lives in a car accident years after she first bought it. Guest Contact: Social Media YouTube Instagram Facebook Group: Survival Medicine DrBones Websites doomandbloom.net altonfirstaid.com Resources/Book Links The Survival Medical Handbook: The Essential Guide For When Help is NOT On The Way Live Q&A with Dr. Mitchell, August 19: How Stress Turns Into Disease, and What Actually Works to Lower It Nobody just gets colitis. Stress goes looking for your weak spot, and thirty years of practice says it usually finds it. Dr. Dean Mitchell is live on Wednesday, August 19 at 6:00 PM Eastern for a free hour: the Holmes-Rahe scale, what HRV shows, which relaxation methods have evidence behind them, and where medication belongs. Register here Contact Dr. Mitchell: Email: care@mitchellmedicalgroup.com Website Instagram YouTube Facebook LinkedIn Book: Conquering Candida ImmunoLytics - code SmartestDoc, 5% off Apollo Neuro - code SMARTMD

  8. Aug 7

    Health Tip Of The Week

    Being ready for a medical emergency doesn't require expecting a disaster, Dr. Dean Mitchell explains in this week's tip. Every household benefits from a basic medical kit stocked with bandages, antiseptics, gauze, adhesive tape, tweezers, and scissors, along with core over-the-counter medications like acetaminophen, ibuprofen, an antihistamine, and an antidiarrheal. When traveling, keeping a list of your medications, allergies, and medical conditions on hand (a printed copy or a note on your phone) can be critical if someone else needs to speak to first responders on your behalf. A portable, battery-powered phone charger and bottled water round out the essentials, and telemedicine now puts medical guidance within reach right from your smartphone the moment an emergency starts. A few minutes of preparation today can make all the difference when every minute counts. For the full conversation, listen to Ep. 236 with Dr. Joseph Alton & Nurse Amy Alton on The Smartest Doctor in the Room. Live Q&A with Dr. Mitchell, August 19: How Stress Turns Into Disease, and What Actually Works to Lower It Nobody just gets colitis. Stress goes looking for your weak spot, and thirty years of practice says it usually finds it. Dr. Dean Mitchell is live on Wednesday, August 19 at 6:00 PM Eastern for a free hour: the Holmes-Rahe scale, what HRV shows, which relaxation methods have evidence behind them, and where medication belongs. Register here Contact Dr. Mitchell: Email: care@mitchellmedicalgroup.com Website Instagram YouTube Facebook LinkedIn Book: Conquering Candida ImmunoLytics - code SmartestDoc, 5% off Apollo Neuro - code SMARTMD

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3.8
out of 5
13 Ratings

About

A combination of a lively, personal and in-depth interview with top healthcare specialists. The average listener may not have access to the expert medical advice athletes, actors and CEO’s have today, but on this show, they will learn the key facts to know about any health conditions that they or their family deal with. Hosted by Dr. Dean Mitchell. https://www.mitchellmedicalgroup.com/

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