DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am a woman in her mid-60s who’s been told that she’s on the verge of osteoporosis. My doctor told me to take calcium, vitamin D and do weight-bearing exercise. I joined a gym. It has a machine that transfers to the body vibrations that are supposed to help osteoporosis. What do […]

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Fifty years ago, when I was in the Army, we were drilled about venereal diseases. At that time, the most feared one was syphilis. We were told it could rot your brain. How come I hear nothing about it these days? Has it gone? Now I hear about many venereal diseases that […]

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: By the end of the day, my feet are so swollen that I can’t keep my shoes on. My ankles are swollen, too. In the morning, they are back down to normal. What’s causing this? What can I do for it? — N.W. ANSWER: That swelling goes by the name “edema.” It’s […]

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Please do an article on ulcerative colitis. My grandson, 17, has been diagnosed with it. What does this do for his future? Will he be able to have a family? My daughter is very upset by this, and so am I. He had been a promising ballplayer. Will he be able to […]

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My mother, 68, could pass for a woman in her 50s. She’s always been a go-getter. Lately she’s slowed. She walks only for a short distance before she’s out of breath. I insisted she see a doctor, and she finally did. She has congestive heart failure. How treatable is it? Will she […]

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I like beer. I like the way it calms me, and I like the taste of it. I’m 38 and have been drinking around 10 beers a day for five years. I pace my drinking so that I am quite sober even with this amount of beer. I can carry on a […]

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am 42 and exercise five days a week. I get the exercise in before I go to work. I am an accountant, so I pretty much am bound to a desk all day long. When I return home at the end of the workday, I spend most of the evening watching […]

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: A few months ago while watching TV, I heard that cellphones could possibly cause brain tumors. I wear one hearing aid. Every so often, I notice pimples breaking out on the outside of the ear with the aid. Sometimes they’re behind the ear. They either itch or are sore. When this happens, […]

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I know nothing about MiraLax, but my doctor suggested using it daily. It seems to be working fine. Back in 2009, I had a colonoscopy, and another doctor recommended Citrucel. Is it similar to MiraLax? MiraLax is called a laxative, and I thought that one should not take a laxative daily. It’s […]

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Will you please comment on the effects of long-term Prevacid for GERD? A friend has had this for 10 years and has taken Prevacid for many years. I went on the Internet and found this statement about Prevacid: “This product should never be taken for more than 14 days and not longer […]