Q. When it comes to weight-loss drugs, I would prefer to use an injection. It’s much more convenient than waking up early to take the pill long before breakfast. The pill didn’t work as well for me to suppress my appetite, but it also didn’t cause nausea.
Q. Quite a while back, I read in your newspaper column about using a mixture of Listerine and baby oil to cure dandruff. You did not provide the ratio for this mixture.
The University of Washington is hoping to send more dentists to rural parts of the state as dentists-in-training at the school’s Spokane program have doubled in the past year.
West Plains residents impacted by PFAS exposure will have to pick up clean water from a public facility after the state Department of Ecology relented on its alternate proposal to have the water delivered to them.
BALTIMORE — Tuberculosis infected more than 8 million people in 2024—surpassing COVID-19 and marking a record high since 1995—as a new Johns Hopkins–developed vaccine emerges amid rising antibiotic resistance. The nasal spray, DNA-based vaccine targets two genes to help the immune system fight drug-tolerant “persisters” that survive prolonged antibiotic therapy and contribute to relapse. ...
BOSTON — The secret might be hidden in our blood. Boston researchers in a new study have found that a blood test can predict Alzheimer’s disease progression years before symptoms or brain scan changes. The Mass General Brigham scientists discovered that a blood test of plasma phosphorylated tau 217 (pTau217) can detect the earliest signals of Alzheimer’s disease in cognitively healthy adults. ...
Q. Years ago, when my younger sister was 2, she stepped on a fire ant mound. My mother rushed her to the hospital. The doctor there told my mother to get meat tenderizer and make a paste and cover her stings. It was among the best advice I have ever heard a doctor give.
Q. My poor daughter has been suffering ever since menopause. Her muscles are weak, and she feels tired, but she can’t sleep, and she has brain fog. I’m glad her doctor will be testing her hormone levels. If her testosterone is low, he is likely to prescribe this hormone.
Last month, local governments proposed a plan to get clean drinking water access to West Plains residents affected by PFAS contamination. The state Department of Ecology has determined that plan is not good enough.
A year and a half after the public health agency opted against privatizing its addiction treatment clinic, the Spokane Regional Health District’s treatment services have expanded.
Q. I am an 81-year-old woman in excellent health. The only thing that might be worrisome is my LDL cholesterol of 181. I understand that is way over the acceptable level. I have no other risk factors for heart disease.
