DEAR DR. ROACH: A friend of mine has been diagnosed with “stiff heart” and has kind of given up because there is no treatment. With all the advances in medicine, isn’t there something that can be done? — C.L. ANSWER: It’s not always easy to guess what a medical diagnosis might be from a simplified […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: Why aren’t people able to see an allergist to be desensitized to a peanut allergy? As a child, I was allergic to dust, pet hair, milk and other things, but I received treatments. I am not bothered by any of these now. It would seem prudent to desensitize people who have allergies […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I have a question that I hope you can help me with. My 1-year-old grandniece (my brother’s granddaughter) was recently diagnosed with Van der Knaap disease after suffering seizures and getting an MRI. An internet search described it as a rare inherited disorder with walking difficulties and a progressive decline in brain […]

DEAR DOCTOR ROACH: I have recently learned that my sibling, age 70, has rare cancer of the thymus. She will be getting chemotherapy and perhaps radiation treatment. I have heard of immunotherapy. Is this an option? Would you know what could have caused this type of cancer? When she was younger, she had bouts of […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: Your recent column about treating diabetes left me wondering. Diabetes, as I understand it, is usually a result of too much sugar being consumed. But consuming carbohydrates is not that much different because they are quickly converted to sugar through the human chemical processes. So, why are you promoting a plant-based diet […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am an 86-year-old male in relatively good health. I developed pain in my lower back, buttocks and upper legs that started a couple of months ago. It is particularly painful in the morning when I arise and subsides some as I work through the pain and get going through my day. […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: You recently wrote that the antihistamine Zyrtec might be helpful for interstitial cystitis (IC). A recently published review found no benefit. Would you readdress your opinion? — D.M. ANSWER: The review that you sent looked at the same studies I did to make its recommendation, but they came to a different conclusion. […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I read your recent column about a person who had knee pain after a knee replacement. I am a retired orthopedic surgeon who performed on over 10,000 total joints of the hip, knee and shoulder in my 47 years of active surgical practice. A well-done total knee replacement does not give the […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I had right upper abdominal pain, and my doctor suspected gallbladder problems. The abdominal ultrasound showed that my gallbladder was normal, and the HIDA scan showed normal gallbladder function. But the ultrasound reported “hepatic steatosis,” aka fatty liver disease. My labs were all normal, including an ALT test of 19. My doctor […]