DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My wife’s doctor thinks she has intermittent claudication due to peripheral vascular disease. She also has diabetes. Would you describe it and its treatment? — S.B. ANSWER: Peripheral vascular disease also goes by the name peripheral artery disease, PAD. “Peripheral” refers to the outer boundary, and when speaking of the body, the […]

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am a 72-year-old woman and have had cellulitis for what seems like forever. Last September, I clipped my toenails and clipped part of my skin with the nail. The next morning, my lower right leg was swollen and red. My husband began alternating ice and heat. After a week, we saw […]

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I need help with acid reflux. I have battled it for seven years, and until recently I have used Prilosec, but it has stopped working for me. I tried AcipHex and Protonix but didn’t feel well when taking them. Now I’m on Prevacid. Is it OK to take indefinitely? I wonder about […]

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Will you please tell me if there is something I can take to get rid of hot flashes? I am 74 and have them all the time. I sweat terribly. I have tried Estrace (female hormone), Estroblend (a dietary supplement) and black cohosh (an herbal remedy). — M.B. ANSWER: It’s said that […]

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: “Walking, walking, walking” is all I hear. All the talk about it makes me wonder if it’s really the be-all, end-all it’s made out to be. I am a 76-year-old woman and haven’t done anything athletic or done anything in the way of exercise since I was in grade school, and I […]

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My 17-year-old son has Raynaud’s phenomenon. Cool temperatures turn his hand and fingers blue, then white and then sometimes orange. The episode is painful. He had a difficult time functioning at school. He wears gloves with the fingertips cut off as well as using hand warmers. The doctor recommended blood pressure medicine, […]

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have suffered with restless leg syndrome for 25 years. What causes it? Is there a cure? I do take Requip. Some say that having your veins in your legs stripped helps. Does it? — C.K. ANSWER: Stabbing pain, a burning feeling and a creepy-crawly sensation in the legs are some of […]

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Please help. I have had two colonoscopies with 10 polyps found — half and half, both kinds. I noticed on my medical bill that I am at high risk. I was told that some new medicine might come up in six months or so. I’m very scared. What could help me? — […]

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My entire family — two boys, one girl, one dad and one mom — have lice. I am starting a support group for families who have had to experience this awful invasion of their scalps. I have reached the breaking point. Give me a plan for treatment and a timetable for their […]

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am an 88-year-old woman, and I have interstitial cystitis. The pain is terrible. My doctor offers no help. Can you help? — Anon. ANSWER: Constant trips to the bathroom, pelvic (the pelvis lies below the abdomen and contains the bladder, the ovaries, the uterus and the rectum) pain, pain on passing […]