DEAR DR. ROACH: I’m a healthy female in my mid-70s. I’ve taken the recommended calcium citrate with vitamin D for years, until about three months ago, when test results showed I have slightly higher than normal calcium levels. I stopped the calcium, but testing results were the same three months later. Since women have been […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 54-year-old female. In the past year, I have developed difficulty swallowing. I usually do not have this in the early morning, but as the day goes on, especially in the evening, I find that when I eat, I have to labor to swallow. This occurs mostly with harder foods […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I read your column on a regular basis, and on occasion your response to those seeking advice on the benefits of some particular medication or treatment includes the comment that the trials were not large enough or powerful enough to show any significant benefit. Are there any medical guidelines for setting up […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: My husband has stage 4 prostate cancer with a Gleason score of 9. He has metastatic disease to multiple sites in his spine, pelvis and shoulder. He was diagnosed January 2015. His PSA was 85.3. He is receiving the standard care with androgen deprivation therapy (Lupron, Zytiga and infusions of taxotere). His […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am an 86-year-old white male. I am currently taking tamsulosin 0.4 mg and finasteride 5 mg. What benefits do these bring to me, and what are their side effects? — B.B. ANSWER: These medicines almost always are prescribed to treat an enlarged prostate. Tamsulosin (Flomax) is what is called an alpha […]

DEAR DR ROACH: For a 40-hour period last weekend, I experienced approximately 200 very sharp stabs of pain at the junction of my left thigh and my torso at the very front of the thigh. They began as I was sleeping and continued at various frequencies, varying from three in 20 seconds to one an […]