ArcaMax

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am 68 and in good shape; I work out daily. I had a few episodes of angina two to three years ago and started going to a cardiologist as a result. I have had quite a few tests done, but the one that was really concerning was my coronary artery calcium score, which is over 4,800 (not a misprint).

He put me on 80 mg of ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I have been using "lite salt," which has 50% less sodium than regular table salt. Do you agree that this is OK? -- C.D.

ANSWER: Lower-sodium salt substitutes are generally made from potassium salts; sometimes they're all potassium, and sometimes they're a mixture of sodium and potassium salts. The evidence is pretty strong ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 71-year-old male in good health with an enlarged prostate. I can't stand going to the bathroom six times a night anymore. I tried prescription medications and didn't like the side effects; they don't work for me. What is the safest surgical method to correct this? -- J.M.

ANSWER: For many years, the most common and ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am 81 now and had a thyroidectomy in 2017. My whole thyroid gland was removed. I also had a little bit of cancer. I have started to get hot flashes again. I had originally been on thyroid medicine before and after the surgery. Then I was put on levothyroxine and decided to try NP Thyroid. I was doing better on NP Thyroid, ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: We just learned that a 30-year-old woman who was six weeks pregnant with twins had a heart attack during a spin class and is now lying in a coma in the hospital. The woman was then diagnosed with a congenital heart defect.

Other than insurance companies balking at paying for imaging, is there any medical reason for OB-GYNs not...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 70-year-old woman who was diagnosed with fibromyalgia decades ago. I suffered before my diagnosis and have suffered since with every single symptom that defines this disease.

It is a disease without obvious signs; therefore, we who suffer are seen as whiners and hypochondriacs. The flare-ups come in waves and in varying...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I'm concerned about my blood pressure. I take readings twice a day, in the a.m. and p.m. I find that when I first take my blood pressure, it is high. Then, after I wait 5-10 minutes and retake it, it is sometimes 10 points lower in the second reading. If I am recording these pressures for my primary care physician, should I use...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I'm 77 and have an enlarged prostate. My PSA score has been between 5.2 and 5.9 ng/mL for years. Recently, my internist had me take a PSA test, and it was 9.5 ng/mL. Two weeks later, my urologist did another test, and it was 5.7 ng/mL. The two tests were done by different lab groups. Are PSA scores calculated differently by ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: Recently, I was rejected from donating plasma (not blood), since my iron that day was 57 mcmol/L and the maximum allowable was 54 mcmol/L. I am rescheduled to get retested in a few days. The technician said to eat beans and similar foods to lower my iron levels.

I checked my own records and found no results that fell below the...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 73-year-old man. I exercise regularly, eat a healthy diet and have not eaten beef or pork in over 40 years. In spite of all of this, I was diagnosed in January 2022 with a 90% blockage of the left anterior descending artery and had a stent put in. I have felt great ever since.

After the procedure, I was put on ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I'm 58 years old and was diagnosed with high blood pressure back in 2021. Since then, I've been prescribed atenolol, which slows down my heart rate. I was later prescribed 10 mg of amlodipine, which I'm told relaxes and dilates my blood vessels.

I wouldn't say it's severe, but I never experienced ongoing constipation problems ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I'm a 79-year-old healthy female. My doctor advised me to have a CT scan due to the bump above my head and the fact that I might have a brain bleed. Since I had quite a few regular X-rays in the past, I really did not want to do a brain scan. The technician advised me that the scan would take only 2 minutes.

When I was under the...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: My husband is 80 years old and a survivor of liver cancer after receiving four years of immunotherapy. On a recent follow-up visit to his oncologist, the doctor told him that he has a heart murmur. He takes medication for his thyroid and adrenal glands.

Could you please explain what a heart murmur is, what causes them and ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 78-year-old male who recently had a colonoscopy and had several polyps removed, but there was also a "flat polyp" that couldn't be removed. My doctor said that he usually recommends surgery to remove this, but because of my age, as well as my heart (stents, high blood pressure) and kidney problems (they have been stable ...Read more