Monday, October 26th 2010 on the Doctor Ira Breite Show on Sirius 114 and XM 119: Doctor Radio!

Superheroes and Super-Gastroenterology. We have an excellent show planned, with topics ranging from heartburn to superheroes to the latest and greatest in the world of digestive diseases!

First the reflux. I'm not totally sure why, but the fall is one of the busier times of year for people to come into the office complaining of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Although I'm very good at dispensing medication and talking about the latest study on the efficacy of anti-reflux surgery, I often get stuck with that most basic of questions: "what should I eat?" Join me and Dr. Jamie Koufman as we talk about her new bood: "Dropping Acid: The Reflux Diet Cookbook and Cure." The book is a groundbreaking approach to healthy eating, and features 75 recipes!

If you have any questions (or tips) about eating with reflux, give us a call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

Last week I was trying to get downtown in a taxi and was literally stopped when thousands of people dressed as everything from Superman to Pikachu left the Javitz Center here in New York City. They were all at the NY "Comic Con." Dr. Daniel Debowy was there as well, speaking about "Psychiatry and the Superhero," where he talked about what might be going on inside the head of Gotham's favorite Superhero, Batman. I wish there were some great medical thing I could put to this, but frankly I am just really curious as to what Dr. Debowy has to say!

Ever wonder about the psychology of superheroes, or what we like in them....give us call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

Last week, many of my colleagues were at the American College of Gastroenterology's meeting in San Antonio, Texas. Lots of interesting studies were presented on a wide variety of topics: hear Dr. David Johnson, the past President of the ACG and Professor and Chief of GI at Eastern University School of Medicine in Norfolk, Va, as we talk about some of the "hot topics" in GI and what it may mean for you and your family!

Digestive questions? Give us a call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

Of course, its not only digestive questions that we deal with. We will have a full segment of "Ask Doctor Ira," where you can ask me any question on any medical topic at all...whatever you forgot to ask your doctor ask me! Call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

Monday, October 18th on the Doctor Ira Breite Show on Sirius 114 and XM 119: Doctor Radio

Surrounded by cell phones, laptops, desktops, TVs and all kinds of electronic stuff? Who isn't? Did you ever wonder if all of the electromagnetic radiation was harmful? I certainly have. Its a controversial topic, and the answers are not at all clear. Joining me to talk about this are Ronald B. Herberman, M.D, who testified before Congress on tumors and cell phone use. Also joining me is Ann Louise Gittleman, the author of "Zapped," which talks about ways to avoid electronic pollution in your life.

If you've ever wondered about all that electronic "stuff" being emitted and whether it can harm you, and have questions on how to avoid it, give us a call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

I was going to start my next topic by making a joke about it being "snippy." And then I realized I was a physician at a major medical center in the United States. And then I couldn't help myself. Sorry. Dr. Emily Taylor of NYU Langone Medical Center will be joining me to talk about the potential benefits of circumcision. I can't promise you that you'll be calling your urologist anytime soon, but this is an important and controversial topic, and anyone thinking about children or hoping for a grandchild will want to hear what Dr. Taylor has to say!

Questions about circumcision? Give us call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS.

I had my first MRI this year. Besides signing for insurance and all kinds of financial stuff, I clearly remember being asked, repeatedly, about whether I had a pacemaker or other implantable device in me. And although I always envision that scene from "Alien" when the alien pops out that guys body when thinking about what would happen if you had a pacemaker and had an MRI, in truth I have no idea what would happen. Join me and Dr. J. Rod Gimbel, a cardiologist and expert on pacemakers and MRI safety, to talk about this important issue.

If you've ever wondered if its safe to get an MRI, and what can help in the future, give us a call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

Of course, we will end the show with Ask Doctor Ira, where you can ask me any questions on any medical topic at all, and I will be happy to answer. Give us a call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

Monday, October 4th on the Doctor Ira Breite Show on Sirius 114 and XM 119: Doctor Radio

Abnormal Duodenum in Celiac Disease (photo)

Greetings from West Chester, Pennsylvania, where I am staying for a hockey tournament. Go Cyclones! Regardless of my travels, we have a great show planned for you Monday.

Our first hour can only be called the eating hour...starting with Celiac Disease. We commonly think of this disease as something that starts in childhood, but in fact the biggest number of new diagnosis are in older people who either never knew they had it or in whom the disease "developed" because of a genetic issue! Join me and Joslin Diabetes Center Registered Dietician and Doctor Radio Regular Laurie Higgins as we talk about Celiac disease in adults! In case you have Celiac and wondered if you could ever eat anything tasty, we have a special guest for you! Joy Pierson of Candle 79 and the Candle Cafe, restaurants in NYC to talk to us about her gluten free menu items! You will not want to miss this!

Its funny. My kids are in that strange in-between age where Halloween means neither trick or treating or going to parties you wish they wouldn't go to (thanks for that!). But the holiday is right around the corner: my wife just bought "pumpkin" shaped Reese's Peanut Butter Cups! Join me and registered dietitian Keri Gans as we talk about "good" eating for halloween...ha! We will also talk about eating with gastrointestinal reflux...this has become a huge issue as many studies show that the medications we give for reflux disease often don't work as well as patients would like.

Call us with your Halloween treats and heartburn tricks at 1-877-NYU-DOCS.

We are starting our second hour on a more serious note: experiments done in Guatemala by the US and Guatemalan governments to give unwitting people, often prisoners, syphilis and gonorrhea in the years following World War II. The United States formally apologized for this last week. Join me as I speak with Susan Reverby, PhD, who uncovered this study and Vanessa Gamble, MD, PhD a University Professor at the George Washington University who chaired the Tuskegee Syphilis Study Legacy Committee that led to President Clinton's formal apology for this series of experiments.

This story has major implications on how we do research nowadays as well..you are not going to want to miss it.

We will end the show with ask Dr. Ira, where I have had a busy week answering all kinds of questions in my office but eagerly await any questions that you may have on any medical topic at all...give me a call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

Monday September 27th on the Doctor Ira Breite Show on Sirius 114 and XM 119: Doctor Radio.

We have a great show planned for Monday: a mixture of good old fashioned medicine and ripped from the headlines.

First, Avandia! The diabetes drug has been banned in Europe, but it is still available here in the United States. What gives? Join me as I speak with Marc Siegel, MD, the medical director here at Doctor Radio about what this means for you and your loved ones with diabetes!

Call us with your questions about this drug at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

,What about the middle aged man? Even though Doctor Radio does a great job of explaining so many health facts, sometimes I feel that its difficult for us men to get the explanation of health issues that literally "work for us." Join me and Greg Stebben, the editor of Men's Health Magazine as we speak about health tests that "men can't miss."

If you have any questions about preventative tests for either your or a male loved one, give us a call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

Have you ever been a patient in the hospital? Have you ever eaten hospital food? Besides the taste have you ever wondered how all those people who keep hectoring you to eat healthy could serve you, well, that stuff? Join me and Dr. Preston Maring, Associate Physician in Chief at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Oakland California and also the founder of the Permanente Group Farmer's Market. Learn about what Dr. Maring, and his son Ben, a fourth year medical student here at NYU, have done to help promote healthy eating. Ben Maring and third year NYU medical student Aviva Regev will also be joining us.

If you've ever looked at your doctor and wondered "how can this guy tell me what to eat" you are not going to want to miss this segment. Call us with your healthy eating and cooking questions at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

We will have a full segment of Ask Doctor Ira to end the show. Call us at 1-877-NYU-DOCS, where you can ask me any questions on any medical topic at all. Anything you forgot to ask your doctor, ask me!

Monday, September 20th on the Doctor Ira Breite Show on Sirius 114 and XM 119: Doctor Radio

Fall is almost here! I know this because 1) the sunlight hurts my eyes as I drive and 2) I am at a hockey rink writing this while one of my kids gets dressed and ready. Interestingly enough, sitting at the rink and looking around reminds me of our four topics for tomorrow's show.

The first is teenage obesity. While there's not a lot of it around a competitive hockey rink, there certainly is throughout the country. Join me and bariatric surgeon Dr. Thomas Inge, an Associate Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and Director of the Surgical Weight Loss Program for Teens and Director of the Center of Bariatric Research there. We talk a lot about surgical weight loss in adults, but how young should somebody be to consider this option? Find out, and ask any questions about whether bariatric surgery is reasonable in your teenager at 1-877-NYU-DOCS.

I have left hockey rinks a few times in my life to head to the emergency room. Sports can hurt! While many of these injuries heal up completely, many American's suffer from chronic pain, and we, as physicians, are entrusted to treat them as best we can. Join me and Will Rowe, the CEO of the American Pain Foundation, to talk about their recent survey about physician attitudes towards opioid pain killers. If you've ever wondered what physicians think when you walk in with a pain problem, you will not want to miss this segment.

Share your stories about speaking to your doctor about pain issues at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

Now people who don't play may not know, but hockey equipment appears to be a phenomenal place to live if you are a Staph Organism. So when I found out the Drs. Marc Siegel, the Medical Director of Doctor Radio, and Ian Lustbader, my gastroenterology colleague, would be joining me to speak about a hospital acquired infection that makes Staph seem easy to treat. Learn about Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenamase, or KPC, and how it is spreading throughout nursing homes and hospitals throughout the United States. We will also talk about the latest salmonella out breaks and some of the things that you can do to prevent it.

Call us with your infection prevention stories (or horror stories!) at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

I've now reached the age where I can't be anywhere without somebody I know stopping to ask me a medical question or two: even at the hockey rink! And you can, too! Ask me any medical questions on any topic at all at 1-877-NYU-DOCS during "Ask Dr. Ira." Anything you forgot to ask your doctor, ask me!

Monday, September 13th on The Doctor Ira Breite Show on Sirius 114 and XM 119: Doctor Radio!

Summer is officially over, the kids have started school, and we are all geared up for flu shots, colonoscopies, check ups, and the inevitable run of allergies and sinuses that come every fall. We have a great show touching on a variety of topics that come up every day in the office!

We talk about probiotics often, both on the air and in the examination room. But getting accurate information is difficult, even for practicing physicians. Join me and Dr. W. Allan Walker, the Conrad Taff Professor of Immunology and Director of the Division of Nutrition at Harvard Medical School as we talk about what probiotics are, where they live in you, and whether you should be taking them!

Call us with you probiotic questions at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

Its allergy and sinus season again! Allergies and sinus problems run from a little sniffle to potentially fatal problems. Join me and allergist Dr. Allen Kaplan, a professor at the Medical University of South Carolina, as we talk about allergies great and small. Dr. Kaplan is an expert in all aspects of allergy, and has a particular interest in exercise induced anaphylaxis.

Call us with your allergy questions at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

School is starting. As a gastroenterologist, I'm pretty immune to my kids bellyaches, but GI related stomach distress is a common problem in both children and adults. Join me and Dr. Suzanne Havala Hobbs, the author of Living Dairy Free for Dummies as we talk about this and other common abdominal problems in kids and adults.

Call us with your questions about lactose intolerance and how to deal with it at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

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

Monday, August 30th on the Doctor Ira Breite Show on Sirius 114 and XM 119: Doctor Radio

The summer is almost over, and school is about to begin. But that doesn't mean that we don't have a great NEW show planned for tomorrow, where we will be answering all of your questions and have some great guests scheduled!

I know we've been accused of being too interested as a society in celebrity gossip recently, but the fascination for the famous extends far longer than wanting to know about the latest exploits of Paris Hilton. Although Mozart died in 1791, scholars are still debating how he died. Join me and Emeritus Professor of Orthopedics at Northwestern University and bibliographer of the Performing Arts Musical Association Dr. William Dawson as we discuss his latest article which reviews the well over 100 papers trying to figure out how Mozart died.

Join us in discussing this medical mystery at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

Have you ever wondered if staring at your computer screen was doing more than making you flabby? I certainly have. And one of the things that I worry about are my eyes. Join me and Dr. Rachel Bishop of the National Eye Institute as we talk about Computer Vision Syndrome. Find out about this problem, which affects more and more of us as we rely on computers more and more to get through our day.

If you have any questions about your vision and computer use, give us a call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

We will also be discussing a topic of great importance to many of us: post surgical pain. Having been there, I am well aware that surgeon's love to say "oh its nothing" about pretty much any operation: and yet it hurts like heck for up to months afterwoods. Join me and physiatrist Dr. Alpana Gowda, author of "The Complete® Idiot's Guide to Pain Relief" as we talk about practical things you can do when it hurts.

If you are suffering from pain days, weeks, months or years after surgery, and want some relief, give us a call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!

We will of course, have a session of Ask Doctor Ira, where you can ask me pretty much any medical question on any topic at all and I will be glad to help! Give me call at 1-877-NYU-DOCS!