DR. ROACH WRITES: A recent column on Medicare’s wellness exam has generated a lot of confusion. A Medicare wellness exam is intended to go over the results of a health risk assessment, based on a person’s answers to questions about health behaviors and risks. It also is supposed to make sure that the entire health […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 67-year-old woman in excellent health except for having rheumatoid arthritis, which does not restrict me. I exercise daily, and I’m not overweight. My bone scans are very good. My gynecologist, whom I had been seeing for over 20 years and who specialized in menopausal women, recently retired. She strongly […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: In November 1997, while traveling, I had a pulmonary embolism. I was treated with urokinase to the lungs and a vena cava filter was placed. In November 2006, I had a CT scan of my abdomen. The report says there is an IVC filter in place. A posterior limb appears to have […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: In the past few years, I’ve been experiencing ”volatile blood pressure.” It will go from 71/38 to 280/90 in half an hour. It happens in all situations. I could be knitting and do a check, and it will be 200/68. The emergency and ambulance teams know me very well. I have had […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: My doctor recently suggested I start taking a statin. After reading some of the recent literature, it appears that statin therapy is more controversial than in the past. From my reading, 50 percent of heart attacks occur in folks with normal cholesterol levels. A re-evaluation of previous studies (such as Framingham) have […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: My son, on the advice of his doctor, has been taking high daily doses of vitamin A (100,000 IU) and vitamin D (50,000 IU). Since this has been explained to him as a cancer preventive and a possible cure, I have been doing the same for several weeks. However, I noticed recently […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I developed septic shock over Memorial Day. I thought I just had a bad case of the flu — chills, sweats, vomiting, no bowel movement in the morning and then diarrhea every hour from noon on. I had been treated for Crohn’s for the past year and half. I was placed on […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: Last year, at age 76, I developed extreme pain in my shoulders, both wrists and even leg joints following a surgery. I was diagnosed with shoulder arthritis. It felt like every movement caused pain. I got injections and could barely drive. Finally, it was controlled with prednisone and a senior gym class, […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’m a healthy, 54-year-old female who recently found out from a blood test that my mercury level is 17. I do not eat meat, but I do eat quite a bit of seafood, including sushi. I got tested because I eat a lot of seafood and know that mercury can be an […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I went to the ophthalmologist to have my eyes evaluated. After a series of tests, he told me that I have a cataract and normal eye pressure, but I also have a rare inherited disease called pseudoexfoliation. He said it will cause many complications if I have cataract surgery, and then he […]