Newest “Medcast Plus” episode tackles diabetes

This month’s episode of “Medcast Plus,” a television program aimed at informing Brooklynites about various health issues with doctors and medical professions as featured guests, focuses on diabetes and how patients can treat the disease ahead of time.

Dr. Iraklii Buziashvili, an endocrinologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Brooklyn, discussed the importance of treating diabetes as well as other illnesses.

“We met with (host) Dr. Jack Braha who is a gastroenterologist at the same hospital where I work. We discussed first what the endocrinologist is and the hormones in the body,” he said. “Then we talked about diabetes, how we suspect a person has diabetes, the symptoms of diabetes and the treatments we have available.”

Early detection, he said, is of great importance.

“We discussed the warning signs,” he said. “The biggest one is if you have a family history. If any of your relatives have diabetes, especially one or both of your parents, that’s probably one of the biggest reasons to get checked and then do something to lower the risk. Eat healthier, lose weight or increase physical activity.”

Buziashvili enjoyed his time during shooting “Medcast”and believes it is an important show.

“I think it’s great.People hear from different doctors about the specific problems that they treat and I think Dr. Braha is excellent hosting it,” he said. “If even a few people are diagnosed with some serious condition before it’s too late, that would be awesome. It raises awareness in the community overall and that’s the goal of the show.”

Being a doctor, Braha added a special dynamic to this episode as host.

It’s important that the person asking the questions is involved in medicine because it allows us to ask the questions that mean most,” he explained. “We know what patients are asking because we see them everyday in our office. For me it was nice to sit with another physician and be able to have a conversation like this. As a physician, it allows me to use my experience with patients to ask the questions that they are asking me and pose those to an expert, almost like having a friendly conversation between two doctors about a disease I don’t treat.”

He also discussed the show’s main topic.

“It’s such a common disorder,” he said. “At least 10 percent of the population has diabetes and many more are at risk for developing diabetes due to  the obesity epidemic that we see here. [Buziashvili] wages a war against diabetes by getting the blood sugar under control using medication and diet so it’s great to have him on the show.”

Braha too thinks that the show is important.

We have shows showing people how to fix their cars and maintain their lawn but the most important show we could have for folks to watch is how to improve their health,” he said. “We want to give them a local and reliable source so that it’s relevant to the viewer.”

Gregori Romenski is the executive producer of the program.

The next episode will air on Thursday, February 22 on Channel 79 on Time Warner, 68 on Optimum, 83 on RCN and 43 on Verizon Fios.

 

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.