Health Advice

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Herpes Symptoms Usually Appear Four Days After Exposure

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: I have a question regarding the transmission rate of herpes simplex virus (HSV-1). I had a sexual encounter with exposure to HSV-1. Despite being careful, there was some contact. I explained my fear of contracting HSV-1, and my partner admitted that they had the virus but had been on antiviral medication for years, to the point...Read more

Alina Yudina/Dreamstime/TNS

On Nutrition: Ways to prevent colorectal cancer

Health Advice / Nutrition /

We may joke about the prep involved for a colonoscopy (an exam for abnormal changes in the large intestine). But cancers of the colon or rectum are no laughing matter. In fact, when you combine the cancer death rates of men and women, colorectal cancer is now the second deadliest cancer in the United States, according to the American Cancer ...Read more

Ten Days Is Sufficient Enough To Stop Isolation After Mild Covid

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: My husband and I both came down with COVID. We had all of the usual symptoms and have since recovered. We have been in isolation and are even wearing masks around the house to keep our (so far) uninfected son safe. However, after 15 days for me and 17 days for my husband, we are still testing positive. We have used four ...Read more

When it's sugar vs. exercise, sugar wins and you lose

Sugar-sweetened beverages are the single largest source of added sugars in American diets. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that 63% of adults drink sugar-sweetened beverages once a day or more. And Harvard's T. H. Chan School of Public Health reports that 5% of U.S. adults drink the equivalent of four cans of soda daily. ...Read more

Is A Hysterectomy Necessary For Woman With A Low Cancer Risk?

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 66-year old post-menopausal woman who is scheduled next month for a hysterectomy to correct a pelvic organ prolapse. There is no history of ovarian cancer in my family. My first period was at age 12, and menopause happened for me at age 51. I used birth control pills.

My gynecologist is leaving the decision up to me. I ...Read more

Brain health and blood flow

Recent headlines declared that a study of 670,000 men showed that the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra significantly cut the risk of Alzheimer's disease by around 18%. That followed a 2021 study in Nature Aging from Dr. Mike's Cleveland Clinic that found that taking Viagra blocked the attachment of AD-associated amyloid and tau protein to ...Read more

Brain or Liver

Health Advice / Scott LaFee /

New research suggests that in up to 10% of cases where a patient is diagnosed with dementia, the problem is actually undetected liver disease, which can cause similar neurological symptoms, such as cognitive impairment and changes in mood and motor skills.

The condition is called hepatic encephalopathy, a complication of cirrhosis. There are ...Read more

Sleep your way to better athletic performance

Many of you say that you want to exercise more, but in one survey, 56% of adults said that they were often just too tired to do it. That epidemic of weariness isn't surprising. Almost 30% of adults get less than the needed seven hours of sleep nightly. And lack of sleep makes it difficult to exercise well.

A study in Physiology & Behavior found...Read more

Growth Of Tissue On The Palm Bothers Retired Mail Carrier

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 75-year-old retired mail carrier. I have a growth on my palm that continues to grow. It's not hurting me, but it is annoying and puts pressure on my hand. My hand surgeon called it "palmar fibromatosis" and said to just leave it alone, since it's no big deal. But I want it gone, and I am at a loss as to what to do next. ...Read more

Beyond a stuffy nose: Allergies can affect skin, eyes and lungs

Spring allergies to pollen from trees, grasses and weeds can be heard across the country as around 67 million adults and 14 million kids sneeze and sniffle their way through the next several months. But spring allergies can do more than cause congestion. They can also trigger an eye allergy called seasonal allergic conjunctivitis that causes ...Read more

Vocal Cord Becomes Paralyzed After A Cold

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: My daughter, 45, has had a paralyzed left vocal cord for about a year now. We have been to an ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctor who ran at least a half dozen tests, including several scans. These didn't show a reason for the problem, and everything else appeared to be normal. She had a cold before this happened. We were ...Read more

Are you sitting on your dementia risk?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says you're inactive if you respond "no" to this question: "During the past month, other than your regular job, did you participate in any physical activities or exercises such as running, calisthenics, golf, gardening, or walking for exercise?"

A lot of people are really, really inactive and say, ...Read more

Trouble Swallowing Can Point To A Number Of Possibilities

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: My 94-year-old father has been having trouble swallowing lately. He tries to expel any food by inducing himself to vomit, but it is very difficult. We looked up his esophagus symptoms, but there doesn't seem to be many causes. He does have chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL); would this point to cancer or a blockage? Would a ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

On Nutrition: A spoonful of sugar

Health Advice / Nutrition /

Our horses don’t adjust well to the water when we take them away from home. So I’ve experimented with some advice from seasoned horse travelers. Common guidance is to add something that will make the strange water taste more palatable.

Horses often refuse to drink when they are away from home, according to horse specialists at the ...Read more

Chip off the Cold Tuber

Health Advice / Scott LaFee /

Potatoes cannot be grown year-round, but the makers of potato chips and similar snacks nonetheless require a constant supply of fresh spuds to meet demand. They cannot preserve potatoes in cold storage because low temperatures trigger a process called cold-induced sweetening, which converts starches into sugars.

Processing CIS-affected tubers...Read more

Dorothy Merrimon Crawford/Dreamstime/TNS

Diabetes Quick Fix: Sicilian Swordfish with Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Potatoes

Health Advice / Health Advice /

Tomatoes, olives, and garlic are staples of zesty Sicilian cooking. Raisins add sweetness giving the sauce a tantalizing sweet and sour flavor.

Make the sauce in a microwave oven and use frozen baby Brussel sprouts for a quick and easy dinner. Look for small baby Brussel sprouts in the freezer section.

Helpful Hints:

This sauce also goes ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

On Nutrition: Granola and probiotic questions

Health Advice / Nutrition /

We’re out horse camping in the Hill Country of Texas. And since this is our second year here with horses and dogs in tow, we are officially what locals here call “Winter Texans.” At least for the next few weeks, we’re off the grid…but not really.

We have electricity and running water, woo-hoo! And we are surviving without television ...Read more

My COVID Diet

Health Advice / Scott LaFee /

It's not time to go grocery shopping yet, but a new published study suggests that a plant-based diet might protect people against COVID-19 infections.

The authors surveyed 702 adults, nearly half of whom has previously had COVID. Those who ate an omnivore's diet (meat, plants, everything) were more likely to have caught COVID (52%) than ...Read more

Eyewave/Dreamstime/TNS

On Nutrition: Food for a happy heart

Health Advice / Nutrition /

It’s only about the size of your fist. Yet it pumps about 2,000 gallons of blood throughout your body every day. If you could stretch out the complex network of blood vessels in your body through which your heart pumps oxygen and nutrients, it would extend over 60,000 miles.

Pretty amazing, these hearts of ours. And pretty sad when they get ...Read more

Male Gel

Health Advice / Scott LaFee /

Currently, male birth control consists of two approaches: condoms and vasectomies. The search for something more effective than the former and less drastic than the latter has produced a possible third option: injectable gel.

The gel, which recently went through a small Phase 1 clinical trial with encouraging results, is inserted into the ...Read more