ArcaMax

Your gastrointestinal tract, including the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, rectum and anus, is a driving force in your health -- or in the development of all sorts of chronic and acute conditions. When your gastrointestinal microbiomes are out of balance, they can contribute to GERD, constipation, IBD and IBS, ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I read your column every day. In a recent column. you wrote: "Since age is the major risk factor in getting cancer, it is likely that some people who were cured of their original cancer will later succumb to a different one."

This statement terrified me as I fall into this category. I had a lobectomy in 2009 to remove a stage ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 74-year-old male, and for the past two years, I have been unable to rid myself of a stubborn case of jock itch. I have tried all of the over-the-counter ointments, powders, and antifungal and antibacterial soaps without success. My dermatologist prescribed econazole nitrate cream 1%, which keeps it from getting worse but ...Read more

Wear and tear from work, play, injuries and the march of time is often blamed for the osteoarthritis-caused joint pain that around 33 million Americans battle daily. But it turns out, there's another powerful trigger of knee and hip osteoarthritis (OA) and pain -- a disrupted circadian rhythm, AKA unhealthy sleep patterns.

Your circadian ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: My insurance company won't let me receive my testosterone injection unless I have a low testosterone level at 8 a.m. Does this make any sense? -- T.B.

ANSWER: Although I am never fond of insurance companies making medical decisions, this does make sense from physiology. Cholesterol is made in the body, mostly in the liver and ...Read more

Let me ask you this -- and answer as quickly as you can: Would you like an easy, fun way to delay or prevent dementia?

That's a resounding yes! Well, I've been saying for years that well-done studies reveal that speed-of-processing games like "Double Decision" and "Freeze Frame" are a surefire way to reduce your risk of dementia. Early results ...Read more

Cochrane Reviews are high-standard, independent systematic reviews of health care research. The latest to be published looks at whether intermittent fasting -- a practice of limiting eating to only a few hours each day -- is an effective way to lose weight.

According to the reviewers, current existing evidence says no.

The review found that ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: My insurance company has suddenly instituted all kinds of new rules that require me to get preapprovals for medications (including seizure medicines) that I have been taking for years. I didn't find out until I tried to renew my medicine, and now I may run out. Why are they doing this? Isn't it dangerous? -- D.M.

ANSWER: In my...Read more

Your body has a burning desire for EVOO and other oils with a lot of monounsaturated oleic fatty acid, such as canola and sunflower oil. (Salmon, avocados and nuts also deliver a good dose). That's the conclusion of a new study that looked at which fats your body chooses to burn for energy and which get stored as fat deposits.

Published in the ...Read more

Aristotle was the first person to list the five senses as sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Around 2,000 years later, an English scientist added muscular sense -- what we now call proprioception -- to describe our automatic awareness of the position or movement of our body parts in relationship to each other. More recently, scientists ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I had several abdominal surgeries decades ago. Now that I'm approaching 70, I cannot seem to lose my tummy. My waist is approaching 35 inches despite a strict Mediterranean-style diet, walking or biking for over 30 minutes daily, and weight lifting daily.

I would like to consider a more aggressive approach. My goal is to ...Read more

Last year, almost 70% of parents told pollsters from Mott Children's Hospital that they think the physical health of children and teens is getting worse. And they are right. A new survey of more than 6 million kids published in JAMA Open shows that almost 27% of children age 2 to 5 are overweight or have obesity, and it goes up to almost 39% in ...Read more

Obesity is an epidemic in countries around the world. The U.S.A comes in at No. 10, with almost 42% of folks having obesity. (American Samoa is No. 1; 70% of their population has obesity.) Add to that the fact that 28 million Americans contend with alcohol abuse and almost 11% smoke marijuana, around 9% smoke cigarettes and 6.5% vape, and you've...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: At age 48, I underwent a lumpectomy, chemo and radiation for stage I breast cancer. All is good so far, but I started experiencing osteopenia in my mid-50s, perhaps earlier than I would have because of the chemo and estrogen-blocking meds. My mother also had osteoporosis.

For the osteoporosis in my hip, I took alendronate for ...Read more

Researchers at the University of Michigan, Harvard and Duke argue in a new study that ultraprocessed foods, from packaged snacks to sugary beverages to ready-to-eat meals, aren't simply junk food or bad nutritional choices. They're industrially engineered products designed to keep you coming back using strategies once designed to sell ...Read more

Once, when automobile dashboards were festooned with knobs and dials, it was relatively easy and safe to "feel" your way to the right control without taking your eyes off the road. Dashboard touch screens have changed that -- and it's not a pretty picture.

In a study using vehicle simulators, participant "drivers" were tasked with navigating ...Read more

When your hand starts to tingle or go numb, it's common to blame carpal tunnel syndrome, a condition caused by compression of the median nerve at the wrist. CPS can be triggered by repetitive wrist tasks, pregnancy, obesity or underlying conditions like diabetes. It affects 1%-5% of the general population. Treatments range from splinting and ...Read more

University of Michigan researchers have an idea why so many people who make ambitious plans and goals regarding physical fitness ultimately give up on them -- more specifically, why planned daily exercise doesn't happen.

Blame it on an all-or-nothing mindset, said behavioral scientist Michelle Segar, who, with colleagues, just published data on...Read more