sa国际传媒

Dear Dr.

Dear Dr. Roach: I have been diagnosed with senile purpura. It鈥檚 horrible. Would you tell us what causes it, and if there is anything to do for it? Does it get worse the older you get? I know of no one else who has it or who knows anything about it.

Dear Dr. Roach: In your response to R.J. in your column, you missed an opportunity to educate a writer on the role of the physical examination.

Dr. Roach writes: I certainly have gotten an education in carcinoid tumours, a type of neuro-endocrine tumour found usually in the gastrointestinal tract or the lungs.

Dear Dr. Roach: I have had two operations 鈥� one on each hand 鈥� involving the little finger for Dupuytren鈥檚 disease.

Dear Dr. Roach: In preparation for jogging, I built up to power walking four miles a day over a three-week period, in addition to 20 minutes a day of full-body stretching.

Dear Dr. Roach: I had palpitations for several years. I eventually went to a specialist, and I spent two weeks in hospital to no avail. Then my doctor said, 鈥淲e have never checked your iron.鈥� The next day, I had a blood test for iron.

Dear Dr. Roach: I will be 81 years old at the end of September. Two years ago, I was diagnosed with an enlarged prostate, and my PSA was 4.1. I was referred to a urologist.

Dear Dr. Roach: I was diagnosed with white matter disease a few months ago, and I was given Depakote 500 mg to take (at bedtime). What exactly is this disease? Does it progress to dementia? My mother suffered from Alzheimer's disease.

Dear Dr. Roach: My 82-year-old brother died in January from pancreatic cancer.