DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 79-year-old woman in good physical condition -- a gardener and lap swimmer. The only medication I take is vitamin D. My cholesterol readings for the past few years have shown a total cholesterol of about 200, with HDL 77 and LDL of 105. Is this normal for me? My ratio ...

Dear Annie: I’m a 45-year-old-male and have had many traumatic events in my past, including abuses too bad to name. My problem is, as I was growing up, I was so mistreated that I never learned how to feel. I had to suppress everything I was feeling and disconnect from my emotions and body to ...

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 79-year-old woman with osteoporosis. My doctor has prescribed alendronate (Fosamax) for me. My understanding was that this medication was to prevent a hip fracture, but she now says that it will also strengthen other bones in my body, including those in my back. Is this ...

Dear Readers: I hope you enjoy some quotes below from one of my favorite poets, Henry David Thoreau. May he inspire you to live your lives to the fullest, spend time with nature, seek truth and always choose kindness and love. Follow you dreams; live deliberately, wild and free. “I learned ...

DEAR DR. ROACH: I live in a very dry climate, and I struggle with dry skin all over my body. Lately I have been having a lot of dry, flaky skin in my ear canal. I have no ear pain, and my ears are not itchy. I believe I have dry skin in my ears, and I have been told by nonmedical professionals ...

Dear Annie: I don’t know how to begin, so I’ll just start by saying that after my father passed away 20 years ago, my sisters abandoned me. At my father’s funeral, my oldest sister told me out loud, in front of my other sisters, that they are never going to speak to me again since my ...