ArcaMax

DEAR DR. ROACH: I'm 78 years old and in pretty good health. I walk 3 miles four times a week, bike 8 miles once a week, and lift weights twice a week. Besides eye drops for glaucoma, the only medication I take is 20 mg of lovastatin each day. Due to corneal edema, I'll be having a partial cornea transplant. My surgeon has asked me to decide ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: You have commented on gabapentin before. This seems to be a miracle drug that they're giving out to everyone for everything. However, I'm absolutely convinced that this drug made both of my parents crazy. Both were given gabapentin in the hospital, and I absolutely felt that it altered their mental state. For the record, both ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I'm an 82-year-old man with osteoporosis, a pacemaker, and a vegetable garden, which I worked in yesterday for 5 hours in the extreme heat. I consumed a large bottle of ice water. When I came back into the cool house, I was unable to select or even pronounce the proper words. I felt like my brain's gears were all in neutral. My...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I'm a 66-year-old retired female who's trying to keep active. My neurologist thinks that I may have tardive dyskinesia (TD), for which I tried Ingrezza, but I experienced heaviness in my chest. I've tried meds, vestibular therapy, balance therapy and acupuncture. I've also been evaluated by an ENT physician and a cardiologist. ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I'm writing to seek your perspective on a diagnosis that has caused me significant anxiety. A recent incidental finding on an MRI, followed by an endoscopic ultrasound, revealed a cluster of several small cysts (3-7 mm) in my pancreas. They're suspected to be branch-duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs). My main...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I've been hearing about Legionnaires' disease. What is it? How's it spread? Can it really be spread through windshield wipers? -- D.G.

ANSWER: Legionnaires' disease is a pneumonia caused by Legionella pneumophilia. It was first described in 1976, when an outbreak killed 34 people at an American Legion convention in ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I'm a 77-year-old woman with degenerative disc disease. I had an L4 microdiscectomy surgery in 2020, but I still have chronic pain in my lower back. Although I do core strengthening exercises with physical therapy (which helps), I'm still in daily pain. I've been seeing advertisements for multifidus muscle-strengthening devices...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: My sister died about a month ago. We were very close, and I was with her when she died of a brief but serious illness. The day after, I felt completely unbalanced. I had brain fog and nausea, which comes and goes, as well as extreme exhaustion and tinnitus. I saw my general physician and asked for a full blood test, which came ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I was reading your recent column about shingles. Several years ago, I contracted shingles, even after getting the shingles vaccine. It hit me in my left eye, so I went to my eye doctor. (I wasn't sure what the problem was.) He took one look at my eye and diagnosed me with shingles.

He gave me an antibiotic that cleared up the ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I'm a 74-year-old male who's in otherwise excellent health. However, I have severe arthritis in my knees to the point where it keeps me up at night. I keep reading about this treatment called GAE (genicular artery embolization), and since I only have about a good 10 years or so left on this planet, I wanted to know your ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I had a preemployment physical for my current position as a firefighter/EMT back in January. I had another preemployment physical for a new position with the fire department last month, and both physicians suggested a statin based on my high cholesterol. Both tests had similar results; my cholesterol was 272 mg/dL, my HDL was ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I'm a physically active 75-year-old man. I'm taking atorvastatin, losartan and amlodipine. During my annual physical in January 2025, my physician noticed a heart murmur. I had an echocardiogram done in February 2025 that showed a dilated proximal ascending aorta, measuring at 4.1 centimeters. It was 3.9 centimeters in January ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I had a very unpleasant experience a few days ago, and I'd like your opinion. I am 90 years old and was awakened early in the morning with an extreme heaviness in my chest. I have a concierge physician, and they told me that if I was able to drive, I should come right over to the office, where I had my blood pressure taken, as ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I have a skin rash (granuloma annulare), and my dermatologist said that there really isn't a cure for it. It's in various areas of my body -- my upper back, my trunk (mostly in areas where garments hit), and a few other places. The dermatologist recommended using metformin to see if this helps.

All my labs are excellent, so ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I'm a 77-year-old man who's prediabetic. I was told by a longtime diabetic that sugar (candy, soda, cake, etc.) doesn't need to be avoided -- just carbohydrates such as pasta, potatoes, etc. I was surprised to hear this. Is it really true? -- Anon.

ANSWER: We often use terms like carbohydrates, starches and sugars imprecisely....Read more