DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Why isn’t more written about what I have? It’s temporal arteritis. I take prednisone for it. I’d like to know more about it. – E.M.

ANSWER: Temporal arteritis comes on later in life. The average age of its onset is 72. For every man who comes down with it, three to four women have it.

Arteritis is artery inflammation. The “temporal” refers to the temporal artery, the artery at the side of the head – at the temple. Arteries other than the temporal are also inflamed.

One distinctive feature of temporal arteritis is headache, unlike any headache the person had experienced in the past. Jaw muscles tire quickly when chewing, and they become painful. A person has to chew in starts and stops. Often, vision is affected.

The greatest danger of temporal arteritis is sudden blindness. It happens because the artery supplying the optic nerve – the vision nerve – becomes inflamed and blood cannot nourish the nerve. Because of the threat of blindness, treatment is begun quickly to prevent it. Treatment is prednisone, one of the cortisone drugs.

Since the temporal artery is so close to the surface, a biopsy of that artery is easily performed, and it furnishes solid evidence of this illness. Results of a simple lab test – the sedimentation (sed) rate – are sky-high, and those findings support the diagnosis.

Once treatment begins, symptoms fade quickly, but treatment might have to carry on for two or more years.

Temporal arteritis is often seen in conjunction with polymyalgia rheumatica, an illness with painful stiffness of the neck, shoulder and hip muscles. Fortunately, it also responds to prednisone.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am 75 years old and have been an athlete all my life. Twice in my youth, I had rheumatic fever. Both times it was untreated. Last summer I developed polymyalgia rheumatica. My doctor prescribed prednisone in high doses. He says nothing of my prognosis. Will I have to live with this forever? – R.V.

ANSWER: Polymyalgia (POL-ee-my-AL-gee-uh) rheumatica (rue-MAA-tee-kuh) is an illness without a known cause. It happens to older people. Neck, shoulder and hip muscles become stiff and painful. Stricken patients feel awful, are tired out and often have a fever with night sweats.

Polymyalgia can easily be mistaken for arthritis, but it has nothing to do with rheumatoid arthritis or rheumatic fever. The “rheumatica” throws everyone off.

Prednisone is standard therapy. Once it is started, symptoms disappear rapidly and the dose of prednisone can be tapered so that its side effects are minimized. A small amount may have to be taken for a number of years. You won’t have to live with polymyalgia forever.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Some time back, I listened to a woman physician who listed the many diseases that one could get from oral sex. I didn’t write them down, but I would like to see the list again. Will you provide it? I am an older woman and when I was in high school, I thought if a boy kissed you on the lips you might get pregnant – back of the neck was OK. Now, even young kids discuss oral sex. – C.J

ANSWER: It’s possible to contract gonorrhea, chlamydia (cluh-MID-ee-uh), herpes and syphilis through oral sex. Some forms of hepatitis can also be transmitted in that way. HIV – the AIDS virus – under special circumstances, might also be passed through oral sex. Admittedly, the chance of transmission of these illnesses is lower than it is with genital sex, but there still exists the possibility of passing them.

Chlamydia is an infection many have not heard of. It is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases. It can cause a discharge from the penis or vagina, and it can infect the fallopian tubes and lead to sterility. Often it is a silent infection.

When passed through oral sex, it can cause a sore throat.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I read your column about the artificial sweetener aspartame. I have had some not-so-good experience with it. I find that just one can of diet soda makes me have diarrhea. When I had my knees replaced seven years ago, the doctor put me on a low-calorie diet. In the hospital, they gave me aspartame as a sweetener. I got diarrhea. It continued for five days, until all aspartame was stopped.

My 40-year-old son gets the same effect from aspartame, but my 31-year-old son can use it. A neighbor with four young boys told me they were frequently missing school because of unexplained diarrhea. I saw the boys drinking diet soda. Their mother likes it. I suggested she stop giving it to them. She did, and the boys had no more diarrhea. – M.D.

ANSWER: Plenty of letters came relating similar experiences with aspartame, the artificial sweetener in NutraSweet, Equal and many sugarless foods.

Aspartame is 200 times sweeter than sugar. It’s made up of two amino acids: phenylalanine and aspartic acid. Amino acids are the constituents of proteins. Phenylalanine and aspartic acid are in many natural foods.

This sweetener has been around since 1980, has been subjected to many rigorous studies and has been declared safe.

As I said before, I can understand how some people might react unfavorably to it. Just about any substance will give a few people an unpleasant reaction. Most people, however, tolerate aspartame well.

The only people who must avoid it are those born with the genetic problem phenylketonuria.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com