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Clarifying the UroLift system for men with enlarged prostates

Columns

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’m 79, and for several years, I have been taking finasteride and tamsulosin for benign prostatic hyperplasia. (In the past, I underwent a TURP procedure, which I will never go through again.) As we know, within time, these medications will affect your sexual drive and erectile function. My urologist wants to perform a new treatment on me called UroLift, which would increase my sexual drive and improve my erectile dysfunction. I would no longer need to take the above medications. I would like to know your pros and cons with this procedure. — B.M.R. ANSWER: I am ...

Seeking rest and relaxation at last

Columns

Dear Annie: My husband and I are at a full-blown spring break standoff, and the kids are watching it like it’s a sport. He wants to take our two kids skiing. He’s already talking about “fresh powder,” early lift tickets and how this is the perfect chance to make “core memories.” He grew up skiing, and it’s his happy place. I can see how excited he is, and I’m not trying to be the villain who cancels joy. But I want to go somewhere warm. Not “a light jacket” warm, but genuinely warm. Sun. Sand. The kind of weather where you can sit outside with coffee and feel your ...

How a party offends its voters

Columns

Gavin Newsom won’t be the Democrats’ 2028 presidential nominee unless he wins a significant share of the African American vote. So how’s he courting it? Promoting his new memoir to a largely black audience in Atlanta, the California governor decided to forge a connection by boasting about his poor SAT scores and difficulty reading. “I’m like you,” he said. “You know, I’m a 960 SAT guy” and “you’ve never seen me read a speech. Because I cannot read a speech.” Newsom suffers from dyslexia, but he obviously wasn’t assuming he was addressing a room full of ...

Politics is harming our healthy friendship

Columns

Dear Annie: I’m a 64-year-old woman who thought making new friends at my age would be simple: find someone kind, show up, bring snacks, repeat. A few months ago, I met “Jill” at a community class. We clicked right away. She’s funny in that dry, smart way that makes you feel like you’re in on the joke. After class we started lingering in the parking lot, then grabbing coffee, then texting little updates like teenagers. She even came over one night when my pipes froze and stood in my kitchen holding a flashlight while I tried to pretend I knew what I was doing. I left that ...

I’m a philosopher who tries to see the best in others – but I know there are limits

Columns

Understanding one another can be hard. There is a big difference between someone snapping at you out of contempt, and calling you out for a mistake because they believe in you and know you can do better. One of these cases calls for anger, but the other for humility or even embarrassment. Or maybe they are only snapping because they’re “hangry” — they might just need a Snickers bar. And that’s just with people we know. What about strangers, people across the political divide, or even those with very different backgrounds and cultures than your own? My field, philosophy, ...

Man declines antibiotic medication in fear of a C. diff recurrence

Columns

DEAR DR. ROACH: About one year ago, I had Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) that was treated with 125 mg of vancomycin for about four weeks. I had none of the usual risk factors, and the cause was never determined. I am 78 years old and in fair health. Recently, my family doctor diagnosed me with prostatitis after ruling out a urinary tract infection when I noticed a burning sensation while urinating. I was prescribed 100 mg of doxycycline for two weeks. I declined the medication and saw my urologist, who took another urine sample with plans to do a culture. I am waiting for the ...