DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 72-year-old man in excellent health and physical condition. I ride a bicycle 60 miles a week, and I generally feel good. I have an irregular heartbeat in the form of a premature atrial contraction, which showed up years ago for the first time on a routine EKG. I have […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I would like to know about the interpretation of the cardiac calcium test. My husband and I (both 74 years old) had this test and got scores of 74th and 77th percentiles, respectively. Our cardiologist did not seem very impressed with the test or our scores, and said the results may mean […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’m writing to you regarding my husband’s cancer. He has thymic carcinoma, diagnosed January 2014. It was stage 4. The disease was kept stable with a targeted-therapy drug called Sutent for 15 months, based on cancer genomic sequencing. When that stopped working, we moved on to Stivarga. Last month, PET results revealed […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I have read in your previous columns that you have been cautionary about taking medications like Fosamax. I hope you can help me with my situation. I am 76 years old. I took Fosamax for 13 years, stopping in 2010. My last scan showed a T-score of -2.4 in the spine and […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I had a CT scan in July as part of my follow-up care for grade 1 chondrosarcoma. My scans were good, showing no cancer issues; however, one item that was noted said, “scattered areas of benign mucus plugging.” This was the first time that particular issue had been noted. My orthopedic oncologist […]

DR. ROACH WRITES: As I write this, another gun tragedy has taken place in the United States. By the time it gets published, about 1,500 more people are likely to have been killed by guns, many accidentally. Physicians have a responsibility to protect the health of their patients and the public, and I can’t be […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I live in extreme northeast Texas, so allergies are a given. Every morning, 24/7/365, my nose runs. Sometimes hot liquid runs out of my nose before I can even grab a tissue. I have taken Allegra, Claritin, Xyzal, etc. Nothing seems to help. Benadryl DOES help, but my eyes hurt when I […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I feel the need to comment on your recent column on chiropractic therapy for back pain. Having 27 years of back pain, I want to give S.B. some additional thoughts. Seventeen years ago, before my neurosurgeon implanted a titanium device in my lower spine, he asked about other corrective efforts that I’d […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 58-year-old male who takes losartan for high blood pressure and Prilosec for GERD. A couple of times a day, I get a tingling on the left side of my neck from roughly my left ear to my chin. Sometimes it occurs when I’m chewing, but sometimes not. It never […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: A few months ago, an oncoming driver lost control of his car and hit me almost head-on, destroying my large SUV. Both vehicles were traveling about 40 mph, and we had less than 1 second to react. Although I was belted and all of the air bags worked, my body rotated counterclockwise. […]