DEAR DR. ROACH: I am 77 years old. When I go to a new doctor, there is always that past history form to fill out. I know to include current medications, including OTC and allergies, but how far back should I go? Should I include the tonsillectomy when I was in grade school (I don’t […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: While chasing my cat, I dove to the ground and both my knees took a beating. They were bruised but felt fine. A few days after this, my left knee started to bother me. I put on a brace to see if that would help (as it usually does), but it didn’t. […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a healthy male, age 66, nonsmoker, not overweight, who takes no medications. At my most recent annual physical, I mentioned to my physician that I was having symptoms of erectile dysfunction and wondered if that was typical for a man my age or if it could be due to low […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: Have any studies been done on Demerol to check its effect on older people? I know of four people who were out of their minds with hallucinations for three or four days after being given Demerol. — B.L. ANSWER: Meperidine (Demerol) is no longer commonly used, for several reasons. One is the […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 52-year-old woman coming out the other side of menopause. I’ve had a smooth ride through it, with the exception of occasional mood swings. I’ve been taking SAM-e since I found out about it on the internet. I did not want to take a prescription medicine, nor did I feel […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am on blood thinners, so I am unable to take ibuprofen or naproxen for pain. Do you know of anything I can take to help with pain? — K.B. ANSWER: The body has two ways of clotting blood: the blood clotting factors and platelets, which are special blood clotting cells. Warfarin […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: My wife has had dementia for over two years. There is an ad in our local paper for an Alzheimer’s disease study. It says, “This study will assess how safe and effective an investigational drug is at slowing the progression of early (prodromal) or mild Alzheimer’s disease.” Is this protocol legit? I […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 72-year-old woman in fair health. I had strong bones until I had gastric bypass surgery. Within two years, I developed osteoporosis. In 2016 my parathyroid hormone level was found to be elevated. However, it has come down over the past year or two from 97.76 to 68.95 pg/mL. The […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: My 7-year-old grandson has a question: “How can I be a science doctor like you? Thank you, Colton Fancher from Florida” — C.F. DEAR COLTON: Being a doctor is great — I wouldn’t change it for any other job — but it isn’t right for everyone. It’s also a hard road that […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: My husband, 79 years old, is getting up five or six times at night to urinate. The urgent care doctor said he doesn’t have an infection but doesn’t know what’s going on. He is taking Flomax, but that doesn’t seem to be helping. Who should he see? — E.L.O. ANSWER: Urinating at […]