Ask the Doctors

Dear Doctors: My wife was diagnosed with a C. auris infection while she was in a long-term care hospital. When she gets discharged, will she be able to hug her grandkids, or should she refrain from having any type of close or skin-on-skin contact? Dear Reader: You’re referring to Candida auris, also known as C.…

Dear Doctors: My doctor recently said I’m borderline for Type 2 diabetes. I’m surprised because it does not run in my family. Can you avoid getting it? I read that when your diet is high in vegetables, your risk of Type 2 diabetes goes down a lot. Is that true? Are fruits OK? Dear Readers:…

Dear Doctors: My wife and I both had COVID-19. I recovered, but my wife kept feeling sick. We worried it might be long COVID. But when she saw her doctor, she got diagnosed with walking pneumonia. She took antibiotics and got better. How is walking pneumonia different from regular pneumonia? Dear Reader: Walking pneumonia is…

Dear Doctors: My boyfriend loves reading about the gut microbiome. He says there’s new information that feeling full after you eat has to do with your gut microbiome. I always thought it was just because your stomach gets filled up with food. Is it actually the gut where feeling full happens? Dear Reader: We join…

Dear Doctors: My grandfather is 72 years old and has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. I would like to know more about this type of cancer and what kind of treatment may be involved. Is it unusual for someone his age to get this kind of a diagnosis? Dear Reader: Lymphoma is a type of…

Dear Doctors: I heard on the news about research that associates walking every day with living a longer life. Both of my grandfathers are avid walkers. They never miss a day, no matter what, and both of them are well into their 80s. I would like to know more, and also how this research was…

Dear Doctors: Why does someone with Alzheimer’s disease have trouble sleeping? Is there a good sleeping medication for a person who has late-stage Alzheimer’s disease? Dear Reader: It is common for people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease to develop disrupted sleep patterns. In the earlier stages of the illness, patients often begin to sleep more than…

Hello again, dear readers, and welcome to a bonus letters column. We’ve had a deluge of mail, so we’ll jump right in. — We continue to get questions about COVID-19, which is clearly with us for the long haul. A reader in Long Beach, California, echoed several readers in wondering about the aftereffects of the…

Dear Doctors: How long does COVID-19 last? I got sick with it, and it was like a bad flu, but I didn’t need to see a doctor. It’s been more than a month since I tested negative, but I still don’t feel well. I tire easily, and I just don’t feel right. Do you think…

Dear Doctors: What causes nasal stuffiness when you don’t have a cold or allergy? My nose sometimes gets stuffy when I lie down, then clears up when I stand. Blowing my nose yields nothing. Even when I have a cold, it will open up if I exercise. What can help when you have a stuffy…