DEAR DR. ROACH: I always have had a low resistance to germs and have caught colds every two to three months. I take adequate vitamins and B-12 shots. Approximately eight months ago, I started taking 50 mg zinc once a day. I feel fine and have not caught a cold since taking zinc. A local pharmacist advised that zinc contains too much metal to take on a regular basis and to take it only at the onset of a cold. I feel fine now and would like to continue taking zinc. What do you advise? — L.F.

ANSWER: It is unusual to see problems from excess zinc, but it can happen. Zinc and copper both are absorbed by the same enzyme, so with too much zinc, you can’t properly absorb copper. A student of mine published a report of someone who took MUCH more zinc than you are taking (the adequate intake per the Institute of Medicine is 11 mg, and you are taking about five times that amount; this person was taking 30 times the recommended amount), who had extraordinarily low copper levels and dangerously low white blood cell counts.

The upper limit for safe zinc intake is 40 mg, and I would definitely recommend against taking more than that every day. I would think taking 25 mg daily would be safe. However, it’s not clear that zinc prevents colds, at least when studied in large groups of people.

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am writing in response to your column on Wednesday, Oct. 8, in the Daytona Beach News-Journal. I also had trouble with cholesterol medication statins. Thank goodness my doctor took the time and trouble to find an alternative medication. I tried every statin he could think of, and I had aches and pains with every one of them. He found Welchol (a non-statin cholesterol medication), which I have been taking for years. It lowers cholesterol without the aches and pains of statins. CoQ-10 didn’t help me at all when taken with the statin. I hope you could pass this on to other doctors and to the man in your column. — S.H.

ANSWER: Coleseveram (Welchol) is in the class of medications called bile acid sequestrants. These bind to bile acids, preventing them from being reabsorbed, which reduces cholesterol both in the blood and in the liver. This, in turn, causes the liver to make LDL receptors, which pull more cholesterol out of the blood. It is a very safe medication, and it also is useful in lowering sugar in people with Type 2 diabetes.

What isn’t clear is whether coleseveram reduces risk of heart attack and death from heart disease. Since statins definitively do so, I recommend them as first line, but it is useful to recall the other options.

Let us never forget the option of a healthy diet, with little or no red meat, lots of fruits and vegetables, little saturated fat and no trans fat, and good amounts of healthy fish and nuts. This diet has been proven to reduce heart disease risk.

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 79-year-old male with mild Parkinson’s disease and Type 2 diabetes. I can walk about 10 feet before becoming terribly short of breath and weak. I have been this way for several years, and it has become increasingly worse. Can you help me? — K.C.

ANSWER: Neither Parkinson’s disease nor Type 2 diabetes explains terrible shortness of breath on mild exertion. Severe shortness of breath can come from serious heart or lung problems (many types) or severe anemia. I can’t help: Get to your doctor right away.

Dr. Roach regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but will incorporate them in the column whenever possible. Readers may email questions to ToYourGoodHealth@med.cornell.edu or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Health newsletters may be ordered from www.rbmamall.com.

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