See Me On MSNBC Talking About New Cryptococcus Gatti Report

I was on MSNBC this morning talking about this issue. I have to say, I am not immediately worried about this bug, but the idea of a pathogen moving from a tropical to a temperate area, and then becoming genetically more virulent is going to continue to be a major problem we have going forward.

Monday, April 26th on the Doctor Ira Breite Show on Sirius 114 and XM 119: Doctor Radio!

We have a veritable "evil" food group show planned for Monday! And yes, evil is in quotes, and meant to be a little (if not very) funny.

Salt! How could something so tasty and low in calories be potentially so bad for you? Join me as I interview Dr. Henry Black, the Director of Hypertension Research here at NYU and Dr. Jane Henney, professor of medicine at the University of Cincinnati and the chairman of the Institute of Medicine Committee which wrote a new report on salt in our diets titled "Strategies to Reduce Sodium Intake in the United States."

Find out about how salt works in affecting your blood pressure, and if some people are affected more than others. You will have to hear the recommendations that this study comes too!

Call us with your questions about salt, medications and hypertension at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

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Sugar! Tasty, and a problem. Join me and Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, the Medical Director of the Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Centers in Hawaii to talk about the new book he has written entitled "Beat Sugar Addiction Now!: The Cutting Edge Program that Cures Your Type of Sugar Addiction and Puts You on the Road to Feeling Great - And Losing Weight!" I'm certainly no fan of excess sugar consumption, so any tricks that he has would be great to hear...

If you've ever had to hit that candy bar "or else" give us a call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

Digestive problems in kids is extremely common. We've been having a lot of adult gastroenterologists on the air, and while they are all extremely knowledgeable, its sort of funny to have them answer a question "well I'm not a pediatric gastroenterologist but...." So we are extremely happy to have Dr. Joseph Levy, a Professor of Pediatric Gastroenterology here at NYU on the line to talk to us about digestive disease in kids!

If you have any questions at all about digestive, liver or pancreas problems in your children, give us a call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

We are back to Ask Dr. Ira at its usual time at 9:30 EDT! Call me with any questions that you forgot to ask your own doctor!

Monday, April 19th on the Doctor Ira Breite Show on Doctor Radio: Sirius 114 and XM 119

We have quite the digestive show planned for Monday. From routine digestive issues to extreme autoimmune diseases, from routine weight loss to losing the equivalent of three people, we have it covered!

We are going to start off by literally separating digestive fact from fiction with our first guest. Cynthia Yoshida, MD is a gastroenterologist in private practice in Charlottesville, VA and the author of "No More Digestive Problems: the Answers Every Woman Needs-Real Solutions to Stop the Pain and Achieve Lasting Digestive Health." We will also be joined by Regina Ragone, a registered dietician and the food director for Family Circle Magazine. Although you mom's old adage "its what inside that counts" may not be totally true, its pretty close!

If you have any questions about your own digestive issues, give us a call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

Although most people with digestive disorders suffer from problems that are relatively benign, sufferers of Crohn's disease have severe symptoms and often require extremely powerful medications to get them under control. Medicine is full of propositions such as "if one thing is good, and another thing is good, then they must be great together!" Unfortunately, sometimes its not true. But sometimes it is. Join me and Dr. Ian Lustbader to talk about a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine talking about using Infliximab, Azathioprine, or Combination Therapy for Crohn's Disease. The studies author will also be joining us!

Call us with any questions you may have on colitis or Crohn's disease in either you or a loved one!


For scheduling reasons, Ask Dr. Ira will be at 9AM EDT this Monday. Call us with any questions you forgot to ask you doctor at 1-877-NYU-DOCS! Or you can email me at irabreite@yahoo.com.

I've been talking incessanatly about losing 25 pounds. But what if you lost more than 500 pound? Join me and Nancy Makin, the woman who did just that! She just wrote a book entitled "7-0-3: How I Lost More Than a Quarter Ton and Gained a Life." You will want to hear about Nancy's story from childhood till now. While Nancy offers no "diet tips" the life events she describes and her struggle to take off the weight is extremely inspiring.

If you have any questions for someone who has lost over 500 pounds, give us a call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

Monday, April 12th on the Doctor Ira Breite Show on Doctor Radio: Sirius 114 and XM 119

Happy Birthday to Me! Our show this Monday is my birthday show (my third for Doctor Radio!) and, in addition to my eternal quest for more hair, we will cover some aspects of medicine that are relate more to what I am fascinated by, rather than what I actually do.

I always wanted to be a detective. And although I definitely should not have become a police officer, it is possible for doctors to become detectives. Join me and Mark Pendergrast as we talk about his new book: "Inside the Outbreaks: The Elite Medical Detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service." The book tells the story of the Epidemic Intelligence Service, a division of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and its efforts to discover and fight disease in the US and around the world.

If you've ever wanted to know how they figure out that its "the fish" that made someone sick, you will have to listen to this segment. Call us with you own questions about being a medical detective at 1-877-NYU-DOCS.

As an internist, I write a lot of prescriptions for sleep medicine. It seems that no one in New York City can actually get to sleep at night. But what about those other sleep disorders: you, know, the weird ones...like sleep-eating, sleep walking, and even sleep sex! Join me and Dr. Mark Mahowald, the Medical Director of the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center, as we talk about the strange world of parasomnias!

If you have any sleep questions at all, give us a call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

Every year I get a little closer to bald and a little closer to doing something about it: but I need to hear from the world's experts on what my options are! Joining me to discuss hair loss is Dr. Robert Bernstein, the Founder of the Bernstein Medical Center for Hair Restoration and Clinical Professor of Dermatology at Columbia University in New York. He developed the Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation and is devoted to the diagnosis and treatment of hair loss.

Call us with any questions about hair loss at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

Even on my birthday, I'm still a doctor. We will end the show with "Ask Dr. Ira," where I will answer any questions you may have on any medical topic at all: just give me a call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

Monday, April 5th on the Doctor Ira Breite Show On Sirius 114 and XM 119: Doctor Radio

Happy Easter and Passover to all. Tomorrow, vacation end, work begins anew, and we have a great show planned for everyone!

Did you eat too much over the holidays? Are you going to eat too much today, without even thinking about it? Join me and Dr. Brian Wansink, the author of the book "Mindless Eating: Why we Eat More Than We Think," and also a professor and director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Now that the holidays are over and bathing suit season (ugggg) is just around the corner, its time to portion size. Dr. Wansink and his brother came up with a rather unique way to look at portion size from the early middle ages until now: the clue is in the photo above give you an idea of what they were looking at.

If you have any questions about controlling you eating urges give us a call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

Speaking of eating, celiac disease is a burgeoning problem in the United States. I asked my kid if he knew anyone at camp who had problems with bread or wheat: he mentioned the diabetic kid but otherwise knew of no one. But if 1 in 133 people has Celiac, then where do these kids go? Cheryl Gainer, the Nurse at Camp Gilmont in Texas, which hosts a "Great Gluten Escape" every year for kids with Celiac Disease, will tell us! Also joining us with be the camp dietician, Anna Jones, who also works with the Texas Health and Human Service Commission.

If you or a loved one have a kid with celiac disease and you want to offer them a "real" camp experience, give us a call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

Although Celiac Disease is one of the most common GI disorders, it is far from the only one. Inflammatory Bowel Disease, including Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, can be devastating for patients and their families. Kimberly Frederick, the Vice President of Patient and Professional Services for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, and Nicole Defenbaugh, PhD, the 2009-10 spokes person for the "Celebrating Ulcerative Colitis Success" Campaign and the author of the forthcoming book "Sites of Discovery: A Narrative Journey of IBD Body." We will be talking about living with chronic diesease such as colitis, and of course answering any questions you may have on colitis treatments, support groups for colitis or being an individual with the disease!

We will end the show with Ask Dr. Ira, where you can ask me any questions you have on any medical topics. Thanks to everyone writing with their suggestions for show topics: I hope to have an anemia segment real soon! I would also like to thank prior callers for their feedback to either irabreite@yahoo.com or docs@sirius-radio.com: right or wrong I want to know how I did!

Call me with any medical questions at all at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

PS: I will be on healthy aging on Doctor Radio Monday afternoon...look for the time on my twitter.

Follow me at Twitter.com/Doctorira