Monday, March 29, 2010 on the Doctor Ira Breite Show on Sirius 114 and XM 119: Doctor Radio

Happy holidays to everyone. With the upcoming Easter and Passover seasons, many people have food on their minds. With that in mind, we have a great show, revolving around Irritable Bowel Syndrome, in store for you.

Before getting to IBS, we are going to start with stroke prevention. Dr. Mark Adelman, the Chief of Vascular Surgery here at NYU, will be joining me to talk about surgical ways to prevent stroke, and how a new study shows that a less invasive procedure, carotid stenting, is safe and effective for the same thing. But there are differences, and before deciding which one is right for you learn the facts.

If you have any questions about surgical stroke prevention, carotid surgery or stenting, give us a call. Our phone number is 1-877-NYU-DOCS.

Passover celebrates when the Jews left Egypt: and they left in a hurry! Because of this, they had no time to bake bread, and therefore had only flat dry wafers to eat; otherwise known as matzoh. Unbeknownst to the ancients, matzoh is one of the most constipating foods on Earth, and every year I get a slew of visits because of this. But you don't have to be Jewish to have constipation: its one of the most common reasons that people see a doctor. Dr. Wes Jones, author of "Cure Constipation Now: A Doctor's Fiber Therapy To Cleanse and Heal" will be joining me to answer all of your constipation questions.

If you or a loved one is suffering from constipation, give us call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS and we will be happy to help!

Irritable Bowel Syndrome is sometimes used synonymously with constipation, and while patients with IBS often have constipation, they are not the same. Join me and world IBS expert Dr. Douglas Drossman of the University of North Carolina and the Co-Director of the UNC Center for Functional GI and Motility Disorders as we talk about IBS, functional GI disorders, and an interesting new study showing that shift workers may be at increased risk for this potentially disabling disorder.

If you have been suffering from IBS, now is an opportunity to speak with one of the world's experts on this condition! Call us at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

Of course, we will end the show with Ask Dr. Ira, where I will tell you stories from my own office (this is an always exciting "Post Call" Ask Dr. Ira) and answer any medical question you may have at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

image source:

Is Irritable Bowel Syndrome Related to where you are from?

I was on Samantha Heller's Radio Show yesterday talking about IBS and a caller asked me if there was a geographic relationship to the prevelance of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I was stumped. Its a great question because there is a geographic relationship for Crohn's disease: it tends to occur in Urban and Northern areas. So I looked it up. As far as I can tell, the answer is not known. Although IBS is quite prevalent throughout the world (there are studies from Peru, India and Iran that I reviewed), there is no study looking at whether being from a rural area is more (or less) protective than being from an urban area.

If anyone knows of any other research that I may have missed, feel free to leave me a comment with a link.

We will definitely being doing more IBS on the show in the future.

Monday, March 15, 2010 on the Doctor Ira Breite Show on Sirius 114 and XM 119: Doctor Radio!

Hello everybody. I am writing this is in the bowels of Staten Island, where, despite flooding, raining, and pretty much everything wet except a guy with a beard, a boat and lots of animals, one of my kids is playing in a hockey tournament.

Speaking of bowels, we are going to start the show by talking about non-medical treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. Jeffrey Lackner, Psy.D, the Director of The Behavioral Medicine Clinic at the Erie County Medical Center, an assistant Professor of Gastroenterology at SUNY Buffalo, and the author of the book "Controlling IBS the Drug Free Way,” will be joining me to talk about his research in treating Irritable Bowel Syndrome using non-medical therapy. I am very excited to have him on to talk about this.

If you have any questions at all about your IBS: particuarly trying to use non pharmaceutical means to treat it, give us a call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

Bedbugs! Ugggg. And all over. Learn about bedbugs, spiders and other insects that invade your home; and you. Join me and Dr. Louis Sorkin of the American Museum of Natural History as we talk about problems with our six and eight legged neighbors.

If you have a problem with home infestation attacking YOU, give us a call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS

Many of you have been wondering about the wrist splint that I've been wearing the past few months. Others have wondered about why their own spouses decided, at the age of 45, to try to learn to snowboard, only to blow out their ACL's. Some people just hurt themselves shoveling snow. Regardless of cause, middle age brings with it a panoply of orthopedic injuries. Join me and Dr. Vonda Wright, orthopedic surgeon and the author of Fitness After Forty, as we talk about injury prevention and staying in shape while rehabbing.

If you have had an orthopedic injury have questions about getting back to yourself, call us at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

Of course, we will end the show with Ask Dr. Ira, where you can ask me any question on any medical topic at all...call me at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

You can also email questions of show ideas to docs@sirius-radio.com. Just make sure my name, IRA, is somewhere in there!

image source:

Monday, March8, 2010 on the Doctor Ira Breite Show on Sirius 114 and XM 119: Doctor Radio

What a show! Manuals and lawyers and numbers, oh my! Actually, its all pretty cool.

Before there was the internet, doctor (and many patients) would often consult the Merck Manual. And, despite the internet, the Merck Manuals (yes there are more than one now) continue to thrive in print and on line. Joining me is Dr. Robert Porter, the Editor in Chief of the Merck Manuals. We will be talking about how things have really changed since the manual was first published in 1899.

If you have a story about an old doctor remedy (leeches a favorite of mine) that seems sort of silly nowadays, give us a call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

And next, a first on the Doctor Ira Breite Show: a lawyer guest! Don't worry, I haven't gotten soft. Sandra Eskin, JD is the Director of the Food Safety Campaign at the Pew Charitable Trust. She will join us to talk about a very large recall of hydrolyzed vegetable protein: its sounds gross and it turns out its in tons of different foods! Wait till you find out its other name! Food safety is a huge public health and financial problem, and Ms. Eskin will be telling us about the Pew Charitable Trust's efforts in this important issue.

If you have any questions about food safety, give us a call. You have a doctor, a lawyer and an aspiring amateur chef at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

Although diabetes is ultimately about people, part of its management involves the following of tons of numbers. From sugar values, to hemoglobin A1c, microalbumin to LDL Cholesterol, there are a lot of digits to keep under control. Joyce Keady, CNP and educator in pediatric and adolescent diabetes at the Joslin Diabetes Center, will be joining us to talk about all of these numbers, as well as a really interesting new study looking at one number in particular: the hemoglobin A1C.

If you have any questions about your diabetes mangement, give us a call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

We will of course have Ask Dr. Ira, where you can ask me any question you want on any medical topic at all. Call me at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

You can also email me or Doctor Radio directly at docs@sirius-radio.com for show ideas or specific questions, comments or follow up. Just make sure my name, Ira, is somewhere in the topic line.