Health Advice

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Cool it -- but not too much!

When a winter chill blankets most of the nation, it's hard to imagine that older folks could be harmed by having their home too warm. But that's the conclusion of a new study in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences that reveals seniors are most cognitively alert when the indoor temperature is 68 F to 75 F. If the temp varies by even 7 ...Read more

Floater In Eye Proves To Be Incredibly Distracting

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 67-year-old male with generally good vision. I have had a few floaters in my eyes over the years, but they have generally been small and have not significantly affected my vision. However, about six months ago, I suddenly had a large floater appear in one of my eyes that did affect my vision; it is right in the center of...Read more

Multiply your chances of dodging dementia

The new year started off with a bang -- especially when it comes to confirming two simple steps you can take to protect your brain from cognition problems and Alzheimer's.

It's not news to anyone who reads this column that eating processed red meat poses a huge risk for body-wide inflammation, heart disease, diabetes and other chronic ...Read more

Praluent Lessens The Chance Of A Heart Attack In Woman With Fh

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 69-year-old woman who was diagnosed with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). I used statins for over a decade but developed vulvar lichen sclerosus (LS), which only went away when I stopped the statins. They weren't very effective; on a statin, my total cholesterol was still 226 mg/dL. Without medicine, it was 310 mg/dL....Read more

Jonathan Weiss/Dreamstime/TNS

On Nutrition: A little something sweet

Health Advice / Nutrition /

We’ve just arrived for our yearly visit to the great state of Texas. After three days of travel, our horses and dogs are happy to be here too.

Before we left home, I packed our live-in trailer with as many groceries as would fit into our small refrigerator and limited cabinet space. No need for anything that requires an oven. Don’t have one...Read more

Weeding Out Which Ads For Diabetes Are Worth Looking At

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: Every time I get on my phone, there are a ton of ads on how to cure Type 2 diabetes. Are any of them worth looking at? -- F.N.

ANSWER: If the ads are for comprehensive diet and exercise programs with education provided by a diabetes educator and a registered dietician (combined with medication if necessary), then they are ...Read more

Spotlight on grocery stores' highly processed food bombs

Ultra-processed foods make up 60% of the calories Americans consume, leaving folks nutritionally deficient and at increased risk for diabetes, heart disease, obesity, cancer, dementia -- the list goes on and on.

One reason so much of what Americans eat is stripped of nutrition and loaded with sugars, additives and preservatives, is that many ...Read more

Fatigue And Tingling Persist Amid Treatment For Anemia

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am 71 years old and was diagnosed with pernicious anemia in October 2024. My B12 and folate levels were low. My antiparietal antibodies were abnormal, but the intrinsic factor antibodies were negative. I received daily B12 injections for six days, and now I'm on them once a month. I'm also taking folate daily.

I still feel ...Read more

Simplifying your battle against Type 2 diabetes complications

Many of you find that managing Type 2 diabetes is complicated -- juggling medication, insulin, dietary plans and ways to manage your weight. And it can get even more complicated if you develop the well-known complications of Type 2 diabetes, such as eye, nerve, kidney and heart disease.

Unfortunately, new research indicates there are additional...Read more

High Resolution

Health Advice / Scott LaFee /

These 20 cities, according to WalletHub, a personal finance company, rank tops in keeping New Year's resolutions or, conversely, forgetting they made resolutions at all. While individuals vary, research suggests nearly one-quarter of people quit their resolution(s) by the end of the first week, and almost half by the end of January.

Rankings ...Read more

Follow-Up Biopsies Help Confirm Healing For Celiac Disease

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: I've been diagnosed with silent celiac disease at the late age of 62, but I probably had it for decades. (It may have led to my serious osteoporosis.) A biopsy revealed totally flattened villi.

I am gluten-free and will be getting celiac-antibody, nutrient, and other regular lab work from now on. But my doctors stated that no ...Read more

New insights into the newer weight-loss drugs

A KKF poll finds that, overall, 12% of Americans have used or are using a GLP-1 agonist like Trulicity, Ozempic or Mounjaro for weight loss or to manage Type 2 diabetes and associated complications. Specifically, around 25% of folks who have been told they have heart disease are taking it and that goes up to 40% among those with Type 2 diabetes....Read more

How to lower your increasing risk for cognition problems

Half a million Americans will be diagnosed with dementia this year. That represents a 42% jump in the risk that someone age 55 or older will develop the life-altering condition. In fact, an NIH-sponsored study in Nature Medicine reveals that half of all adults in the U.S. will experience cognition problems after age 55. And by 2060, there will ...Read more

A Withdrawn Drug Is The Only Medication That Works For Reader

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: What happened to Darvon? It wasn't addicting and didn't cost much, and I never heard any reason why it was withdrawn except that "it didn't work." It sure worked for me, and when they took it away, I ended up on Oxycontin because everything else that wasn't more dangerous made me vomit!

I have fibromyalgia. After I had my ...Read more

Martin Krause/Dreamstime.com/TNS

Diabetes Quick Fix: Hot and Spicy Stir-fry Shrimp and Sesame Noodles with Snow Peas

Health Advice / Health Advice /

Stir-fry some shrimp with hot pepper sauce, garlic, and ginger for a succulent, quick dinner.

Buy bag of frozen shrimp, wild caught, and keep on hand. Look for sales and keep some on hand for quick meals. It saves time and money running to the store.

Sesame noodles with snow peas complete the meal. Fresh snow peas add a crisp texture to the ...Read more

Oleksiy Makhalov/Dreamstime/TNS

On Nutrition: Understanding vitamin C

Health Advice / Nutrition /

One regret I have is not being able to meet Linus Pauling, the biochemist best known in nutrition circles for his views on vitamin C. In the last years of his life, he resided just down the road from us. He may not have wanted a visit from a stranger, but I wish I had at least tried.

If the name doesn’t ring a bell, Pauling was a Nobel Prize ...Read more

Don't 'Meat' Me in LA

Health Advice / Scott LaFee /

The financial services website and app WalletHub recently listed the most vegan- and vegetarian-friendly places to live in the United States, based on criteria like affordability, diversity, accessibility and quality. Some of the criteria were further broken down into metrics like farmers markets per capita.

Based on a 100-point scale, here ...Read more

Nevinates/Dreamstime/TNS

On Nutrition: Raw or cooked?

Health Advice / Nutrition /

When I was a kid, I would watch my mom in the kitchen. Every once in a while as she cut up potatoes, she’d pop a raw piece in her mouth. She’d do the same with raw meat — to test the seasoning, I suppose — before placing a meatloaf in the oven.

Don’t do that, say food safety experts. To my knowledge, mom never got sick from these ...Read more

Fart Walks

Health Advice / Scott LaFee /

There's no polite way to discuss this, but so blow the winds of change.

The term "fart walks" is trending right now, though in reality the phenomenon has existed for as long as there has been a human gastrointestinal tract. The term refers to the physiological consequences of exercise, especially after eating.

Flatulence involves passing ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

On Nutrition: Treatments for low thyroid

Health Advice / Nutrition /

Several years ago, a patient asked me what she could eat to treat hypothyroidism — a medical condition characterized by abnormally low levels of thyroid hormones.

She was correct to be concerned. The small thyroid gland housed in the front of our necks manufactures hormones that control important bodily functions including breathing, heart ...Read more

 

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