DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 62-year-old female. In January 2018 I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. I received a stem cell transplant in May of that year and am in remission. Everything was progressing fairly normally until six months post-transplant, when I suddenly developed a blood clot in my right leg. Now I […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: Last July, I ate at a beach restaurant in Florida and shortly afterward was advised to get a hepatitis A shot, which I did. They also said to get the second shot in January 2020. Now I’m hearing that there may be complications with the second shot causing health problems and also […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 69-year-old male who underwent bypass graft surgery in late 2014. I have been free of symptoms since. I exercise daily by walking and/or cycling, maintain a healthy diet and have never smoked. I’m 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weigh 152 pounds. I’ve been on once-daily statin and metoprolol […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: My wife went blind in her left eye suddenly last October, and a biopsy showed temporal arteritis. She was started on high-dose prednisone, and after four weeks they lowered the dosage. Her right eye is blurry, and doctors recommended removing the cataract in hopes of helping her see better. What is her […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I was diagnosed with shingles after a few days of a painful rash. The doctor recommended acyclovir, gabapentin and prednisone. Do these really help? — M.F. ANSWER: Shingles is when the chickenpox virus reappears in a specific area of the body, such as in a beltlike distribution on the torso. In fact, […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: What do you know about copper killing the cold virus? I’m of the opinion that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Yet, there is a copper product on the market that says it kills the cold virus on contact. Many people have claimed it is effective. Are […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: My father was recently diagnosed with a type 4 hiatal hernia. His doctor said that this can be very serious and he may need to have surgery to correct the problem. He’s 85 years old. Can you shed some light on this situation? — J.S. ANSWER: There is a hole in the […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: My 94-year-old mother has a sacral fracture, diagnosed after a fall six weeks ago. A CT scan diagnosed the fracture. She was put on Tylenol 3, and when that didn’t help the pain much, they added Advil. This past week she experienced additional pain and can hardly walk. She said her left […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am writing about a concerning development with my 67-year-old husband. After more than a year of taking a 10 mg dose of escitalopram, his internist increased the dose to 20 mg. This vastly improved his depression symptoms over the past year. For many years, he has taken flecainide for atrial fibrillation. […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: Does eating strictly organic food and drinking only bottled water help in a meaningful way to prevent diseases and contribute to a long and healthy life? — M.T. ANSWER: There is no consistent high-quality evidence that consuming organic foods lead to improvement in health outcomes, including longer life. Some but not all […]