DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Is there an over-the-counter remedy for diverticulosis? I wake up with a stomachache until I go to the bathroom. – M.B.

ANSWER: I respect your opinion, but I’ll sleep much more soundly if you have a doctor confirm your diagnosis. Your first step in finding a remedy is making a doctor appointment.

People living in places where grains are refined are the ones who get diverticulosis. Canada and the United States are two such places.

Refining removes the outer coat of grains, and that is fiber, the stuff that keeps stools moist, soft and easy to pass. When undigested food becomes dry and hard, it’s difficult for the colon to move it along.

The muscle walls of the colon have to create great force to do so. In generating such force, the colon lining is pushed through the wall of the colon and forms a grape-size protrusion on the colon’s outer surface.

That’s a diverticulum. Lots of diverticula make for diverticulosis. Diverticulosis is not a usually painful condition. Its remedy – at least, the way to prevent new diverticula – is fiber: whole grains, vegetables, fruits and, if need be, things like Metamucil, Konsyl or Citrucel.

Diverticulitis is inflamed diverticula, and it is painful. The pain is most often felt in the lower-left corner of the abdomen.

It can be relieved by having a bowel movement, but frequently it persists and is accompanied by nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite. In serious diverticulitis, hospitalization is needed.

For less-severe episodes, going on a liquid diet to rest the colon can often pull a patient through, but often antibiotics are prescribed in addition to the liquid diet.

The diverticulosis booklet goes into detail on this common affliction.

Readers can obtain a copy by writing: Dr. Donohue – No. 502, Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475.

Enclose a check or money order (no cash) for $4.75 U.S./$6.75 Can. with the recipient’s printed name and address. Please allow four weeks for delivery.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am one of the millions of people with Parkinson’s disease. I came across the attached release after the FDA approved a new Parkinson’s drug in May of this year. I thought you might want to do an article on it.

I find that many doctors know nothing about Neupro. Do doctors wait to learn about new drugs until the manufacturer sends its representatives around? – E.S.

ANSWER: The basis of Parkinson’s disease is a depletion of the brain chemical dopamine.

With too little of it, all the signs and symptoms of Parkinson’s emerge – tremor, muscle rigidity, slow movement and the rest. Medicines that act like dopamine have been the backbone of treatment for many years. Neupro (rotigotine) is another dopamine-like drug, available as a skin patch – a novel way of delivering Parkinson’s medicine.

The patch permits a continuous release of the drug throughout 24 hours, an advantage for patients for whom oral medicines wear out before the next dose.

Neupro is not a new class of Parkinson’s medicine.

It’s a new drug in an old class, administered in a new way.

It could prove helpful for those whose symptoms aren’t well-controlled by older medicines.

Doctors might not know about FDA actions as soon as newspaper wire services do, but they do learn about them shortly after a drug has been released.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: We’re planning a trip to Central America and are concerned about dengue fever. I had it in 1944. Is it more serious the second time? Does the virus stay in one’s system? – E.H.

ANSWER: Dengue (ding-EE) fever is found mostly in tropical regions. I

t’s a mosquito-transmitted viral illness whose symptoms include headache, fever and severe muscle and joint pain. The latter pain is so severe that dengue’s popular name is breakbone fever.

The virus doesn’t stay in the body for life, but a second episode of dengue can be worse than the first.

Prevention lies in faithful use of mosquito repellent that contains DEET.

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