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Gerald M. "Jerry" Reaven (July 28, 1928 – February 12, 2018) was an American endocrinologist and professor emeritus in medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California, United States.

Reaven's work on insulin resistance and diabetes mellitus with John W. Farquhar goes back at least to 1965.

A long-term researcher into diabetes, he achieved significant notability with his 1988 Banting Lecture (organized annually by the American Diabetes Association in memory of Frederick Banting). In his lecture, he propounded the theory that central obesity (male-type or apple-shaped obesity), diabetes and hypertension (high blood pressure) have a common cause in insulin resistance and impaired glucose tolerance. Initially titled "syndrome X", the constellation of symptoms is now known as the metabolic syndrome and an object of extensive scientific inquiry, especially given that the combination strongly predisposes for cardiovascular disease. Still, Reaven believes that contemporary criteria are arbitrary and that it may not be necessary to define it as a diagnostic entity more than a pathophysiological parameter.

He obtained his academic qualifications at the University of Chicago and did his internship there. After research work in Stanford and two years in the U.S. Army medical corps he completed his residency at the University of Michigan. He then took up a US Public Health Service research post at Stanford, where he progressed to a full professorship in 1970. He led endocrinology and gerontology research.

Apart from his work at Stanford he was also Senior Vice President for Research for Shaman Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in South San Francisco.

He was a member of several research organizations and received numerous prizes for his research achievements. He was co-author of a popular book on Syndrome X and its repercussions on cardiovascular disease.

Footnotes

1. Kraemer, Fredric B.; Ginsberg, Henry N. (May 2014). "Gerald M. Reaven, MD: Demonstration of the Central Role of Insulin Resistance in Type 2 Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease". Diabetes Care. 37 (5): 1178–1181. doi:10.2337/dc13-2668. PMID 24757223. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
2. "Gerald Reaven, scientist who coined 'Syndrome X,' dies at 89".
3. Reaven, G M; Hill, D B; Gross, R C; Farquhar, J W (1965). "Kinetics of triglyceride turnover of very low density lipoproteins of human plasma". Journal of Clinical Investigation. 44 (11): 1826–1833. doi:10.1172/JCI105290. ISSN 0021-9738. PMC 289683. PMID 5843713.
4. Reaven, GM (January 1997). "Banting Lecture 1988. Role of insulin resistance in human disease. 1988". Nutrition. 13 (1): 65; discussion 64, 66. doi:10.1016/0899-9007(97)90878-9. PMID 9058458.
5. Reaven, GM (2005). "The metabolic syndrome: requiescat in pace". Clin Chem. 51 (6): 931–8. doi:10.1373/clinchem.2005.048611. PMID 15746300.
6. Gerald M. Reaven, curriculum vitae
7. "Gerald Reaven, MD". (profile, ) Stanford Medical School. Archived from the original on June 9, 2011. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
8. "Shaman Pharmaceuticals promotes Gerald M. Reaven to Senior Vice President". Businesswire. February 14, 1996. Retrieved February 11, 2011.
9. Reaven, Gerald; Strom, Terry Kirsten; Fox, Barry (2000). Syndrome X - Overcoming the Silent Killer that Can Give You a Heart Attack. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-86862-2. OCLC 42719952.

External links

• Interview - Canadian Association of Cardiac Rehabilitation

• 1928 births
• 2018 deaths
• American endocrinologists
• Stanford University School of Medicine faculty
• Pritzker School of Medicine alumni
• University of Michigan alumni
• People from Gary, Indiana