DEAR DR. ROACH: As a preventive measure for prediabetes, my doctor recommended I take 500 mg of metformin twice a day (morning and evening). I have been following this regimen for two months. The same day I started the medication, my night sweats started up again, with a vengeance. On the metformin, my quality of […]
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Lyme disease vaccine’s disappearing act
DEAR DR. ROACH: I moved to the Northern California mountains about 17 years ago. There was much discussion about Lyme disease at that time. My husband and I decided, since we were surrounded by tick-carrying deer, that we should take all precautions. There was a vaccine available, given in three separate doses. We learned that […]
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The pros and cons of dairy milk alternatives
DEAR DR. ROACH: I’m vegan, primarily for ethical reasons, but I also enjoy the health benefits. There are so many more nondairy milks on the market now than when I went vegan, 23 years ago. I especially enjoy the taste of soy, coconut and almond milks, but from a health perspective, which is best? — […]
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Repetitive concussions have serious consequences
DEAR DR. ROACH: I am concerned that my child has chronic traumatic encephalopathy after a serious concussion and several other head traumas. Can you tell me the current ideas for treatment? — K.L.R. ANSWER: Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a degenerative disease of the brain, described in boxers in 1928 (“punch-drunk” or “dementia pugilistica”), but recently […]
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Changing care goal from ‘cure’ to ‘improvement’
DEAR DR. ROACH: My husband is a disabled Vietnam veteran. He was heavily exposed to Agent Orange, has PTSD, is an insulin-dependent diabetic, has had heart bypass surgery and has rheumatoid arthritis. He spends most days on the couch, sleeping. He has a lot of pain, even though he does take pain medicine and prednisone. […]
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You can have your greens and your coumadin, too
DEAR DR. ROACH: I am looking forward to having my 90-year-old father-in-law come to live with us later this year, but we have a difference of opinion about his diet. He maintains that because he is taking warfarin, he can have only occasional salads and limited green vegetables. It is my understanding that as long […]
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Discuss possible drug interactions with doctor
DEAR DR. ROACH: My doctor has had me on gemfibrozil, simvastatin and metoprolol for more than five years. My pharmacist called the other day saying that new studies are out and that gemfibrozil and simvastatin should not be taken together. My doctor has never mentioned it. Should I be concerned? — S.F.W. ANSWER: Yes, there […]
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Making sense of confusing medical lingo
DEAR DR. ROACH: What is the difference between NSVT and AVNRT? I am a 69-year-old female taking metoprolol once a day.—T.A. ANSWER: Medical abbreviations are confusing. Even when I spell them out — nonsustained ventricular tachycardia, and atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia — the names hardly make sense unless you know the vocabulary. A medical-school anatomy […]
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Who can help with scarring alopecia?
DEAR DR. ROACH: I used to have lots of hair on my head, but I have lost most of it. My doctor diagnosed me with scarring alopecia. I don’t know anything about what causes this. It bothers me very much that I am losing my hair. Is there a specialist who could help me? — […]
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Consider sexual function when choosing BPH treatment
DEAR DR. ROACH: The literature on Avodart use for benign prostatic hyperplasia mentions that only 1 percent of men taking it experience sexual difficulties. Are there ongoing or recent studies on Avodart use that would explain diminished climax response in an otherwise healthy senior adult male? As an alternative, what is the percent of TURP […]