DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 75-year-old male who is 6 feet, 1 inch tall and weighs 195 pounds. I had a heart attack 20 years ago, and I was warned to cut down my salt intake. From that time on, I stopped using table salt and carefully selected foods with low salt content. Eighteen […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 70-year-old white male. I work full time as a veterinarian, teach two aerobics classes and take a weekly class for strength training. In the past three weeks, I have fallen twice — once just walking in the airport. It was sudden and scary. Over the past five to six […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am an active 68-year-old man in good health. I am thin, but not very tall. I am 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weigh about 170 pounds. In the past five years, I have had three recurrences of spontaneous pneumothorax (collapsed lung); the first happened when I was in my 20s. […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am 90 years old and in good health. I recently saw my doctor and had abnormal blood test results. My white cell count was 2.1, my hemoglobin 9.5 and my hematocrit was 29 percent. Is there any kind of vitamin or food I can take to raise these levels? — M.A. […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’m expecting a baby in a few months, and my doctor told me that everyone who will come into contact with her must get the Tdap vaccine. If some family members don’t get it, should I keep them from meeting the baby until she’s old enough to be fully vaccinated? — H.C. […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I have been urinating blood for several weeks. An X-ray revealed a kidney stone; however, I am in no pain at all. The stone is said to be between my kidney and bladder. I take blood pressure medicine and an aspirin a day. The problem is this: If I don’t take my […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: What can you tell me about Fahr disease? I had an MRI, and I read the term on the report and was concerned because I hadn’t been told about it. I asked my provider about it, and he told me that it usually is diagnosed when someone is young. I am soon […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: My elderly sister, 73, has Type 2 diabetes, and is taking 500 mg of metformin twice a day. After two years on metformin, her fasting glucose level is only 125 mg/dl and A1C only 6.8 percent. If she continues taking medication, will her fasting glucose level ever get to around 85 mg/dl […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am an 85-year-old female with an often low body temperature. I feel very warm, like I have a fever, but when I take my temperature it can be as low as 95 or 96. This has happened several times. I’ve heard that a low temp is just the same as a […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: When I was young, I had mumps and chickenpox, and one type of measles (German measles?) when I was 16, and the other when I was about 18. I had three grand mal seizures within 12 months after the second round of measles. I was told that the seizures were a result […]