DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I would like your input on two vitamins or herbs, or whichever they are. They are folic acid and red yeast rice.

I had taken folic acid every day, but I heard a doctor on TV say you shouldn’t take it. I didn’t hear why. Why?

I hear good things about red yeast rice too, but everything is touted by someone. Is it good? – K.G.

ANSWER: Folic acid is a B vitamin. (Folic acid is also called folate.) Vitamins are essential for life. This vitamin assists in the production of DNA and RNA, nucleic acids that are very important to every cell’s existence. It’s also involved in the production of red blood cells. Folic acid is a must for women of childbearing age because it prevents spinal-cord defects in the developing fetus. Pregnant or about-to-become-pregnant women need 600 micrograms a day. Other adults should get 400 micrograms a day. Spinach and citrus fruits are good sources of folic acid.

I haven’t heard or read anything that says we ought to stop taking this vitamin.

There are two instances in which folic acid could cause trouble. People who are deficient in vitamin B-12 and who take folic acid without correcting the B-12 deficiency have a worsening of the neurological problems that come from a lack of B-12.

The second possible theoretical risk occurs in people who have small, undetected cancers. Since folic acid enhances the production of DNA and RNA, it could make these tiny tumors grow faster. Even so, no one I know has recommended not getting the daily requirement of the vitamin.

The Food and Drug Administration recently has warned doctors and consumers not to use several brands of red yeast rice extract because they contain lovastatin, a cholesterol-lowering drug. The involved products do not state that they contain this prescription drug.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am a male, 6 feet 2 inches tall, and weigh 235 pounds. I am in reasonably good health and about to turn 50. I have taken Prilosec for 10 years for acid reflux. I read that people taking this kind of medication are more likely to suffer a broken hip because the medicine prevents the body from absorbing calcium. My father died of esophageal cancer at age 69. What are my options? – T.S.

ANSWER: In December of this past year, an article published in a respected medical journal demonstrated an increased incidence of hip fractures in people who took proton pump inhibitors, in high doses and for prolonged amounts of time, for acid reflux (heartburn). Proton pump inhibitors stop the production of stomach acid and are the most successful drugs for combating heartburn. Prilosec, Nexium, Prevacid, Protonix and Aciphex are brand names of these drugs.

Your first option is to ask your doctor what you should do. He or she knows best if you should continue the medicine even with the increased risk of possible hip fracture in the future.

You can try alternate medicines – Tagamet, Zantac, Axid or Pepcid. Antacids might ease your reflux problem. Or you might try to overcome the diminished volume of stomach acid that comes with proton pump inhibitors by taking larger doses of calcium and vitamin D. Calcium citrate is absorbed pretty well without stomach acid.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Playing college football injured my knees. I now walk with a limp because of knee arthritis. I wonder if a treatment called Synvisc would be good for my knees. May I hear from you? – R.S.

ANSWER: Synvisc provides increased viscosity – thickness – for joint fluid that has become thin and watery. Viscous joint fluid is a much better lubricant. Synvisc isn’t a cure, but a good percentage of injected people have less pain after the injections.

The only way you’ll know for sure is to try it.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am a 30-year-old female with polycystic ovary syndrome. My husband and I had been trying to have a child for six years. Nothing we had tried worked, including Clomid (clomiphene). We visited a reproductive endocrinologist, who put me on Femara, a drug for breast cancer. I got pregnant. I am now in my third month with no problems and am happier than I have ever been in my life.

Is this method safe? How did a drug for breast cancer make me ovulate? – T.E.

ANSWER: One of the features of polycystic ovary syndrome is infertility. Clomid has been a common treatment to induce ovulation in infertile women with the syndrome.

Femara (letrozole) stops estrogen production. Many breast cancers are sensitive to estrogen, which acts as a growth stimulus. One of the elements of polycystic ovary disease is an overproduction of androgen, male hormone. Some of the male hormone is converted to estrogen, which, in turn, suppresses the release of follicle-stimulating hormone, FSH. It’s a hormone that comes from the pituitary gland, and it acts on the ovary to produce a follicle – a nest – that houses an egg. Femara stimulated your ovary to produce a follicle and an ovum by diminishing your production of androgen-induced estrogen.

Femara is an experimental treatment. It hasn’t been sanctioned by the Food and Drug Administration. It is used, however, and it’s legal to use it if women understand that it is an experimental treatment and if they have all the possible complications of such treatment explained to them. To date, it has been safely used by many women.

I am happy that things turned out so well for you and your husband.

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