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Raising blood pressure levels doesn’t help to protect the retina

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am an 82-year-old woman who was diagnosed with glaucoma about three years ago. I have been taking latanoprost eye drops at bedtime since then. A glaucoma specialist in my health maintenance organization recently recommended that I take salt tablets to raise my blood pressure (usually 115-120/60-70 mm Hg) to at least 130/70 mm Hg to get a better blood supply to my retina. The specialist added that current science says a blood pressure of at least 130 mm Hg is recommended for people in their 80s. Even with one or two salt tablets a day, I cannot consistently get to the ...

You have run your race, Jesse

The passing of Jesse Jackson marks the end of a turbulent and transformative era in American politics. For more than five decades, he stood at the intersection of protest and power, unapologetic in his focus on race, relentless in his pursuit of equity, and unafraid to confront America’s deepest contradictions. The era that shaped him defined him. Jackson came of age in the segregated South, forged in the crucible of the civil rights movement under the moral thunder of Martin Luther King, Jr. That generation did not believe in incremental whispers; it believed in confrontation. ...

A front-row seat to a midlife spiral

Dear Annie: My friend of 20 years confessed to having a crush on her executive coach, which then developed into a flirtation, which then became a sexting affair. I have always known she is unhappy in her marriage, but I cannot condone cheating and have told her so. She’s also started vaping, pierced her nose, talked about buying a new car (she just bought her last one two years ago) and even had an addition put on her house so she could have her own room away from her family. I’ve told her she’s exhibiting signs of a mid-life crisis. She told me she’s fine and that working ...

Clearing up confusion surrounding vitamin D and vitamin K

DEAR DR. ROACH: My blood work showed that I was slightly low in vitamin D, so my doctor recommended that I take a supplement. My pharmacist was concerned and told me that vitamin D does not get absorbed in people with dark complexions and tends to get deposited in the arteries. The pharmacist recommended that I take vitamin D with K2, which allows vitamin D to be absorbed more efficiently. My cardiologist told me that vitamin K wasn’t well-studied, but some studies showed that it can actually thicken in the blood. In any event, the cardiologist didn’t believe it was a big deal. So, ...

Why so much faith in politics?

It’s only February and other than the almost nonstop coverage of the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping story, especially cable networks are obsessed with the November election, though it is more than eight months away. So much can — and likely will — change before then. Why all the attention? When I was active on the lecture circuit my opening line was “I’m happy to be here tonight from Washington, D.C., where the only politicians with convictions are in prison.” Another laugh-getter was “Do you know the meaning of politics? Poly means many and ticks are blood-sucking ...

Plant in your own life and we all reap the rewards

There’s a 36-year-old song that talks about the value of hard work. “I gotta get out of bed and get a hammer and a nail,” the chorus goes, “Learn how to use my hands, not just my head. I think myself into jail. Now, I know a refuge never grows from a chin in a hand in a thoughtful pose. Gotta tend the earth if you want a rose.” I’ve been thinking a lot about farming lately, which is weird because the last time I tried to do any gardening, I pulled a random muscle in my back and limped for a week. But work, real work, goes back in my family for generations. My ...