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Elderly friend gets diagnosed with a Zenker’s diverticulum

Columns

DEAR DR. ROACH: What’s a Zenker’s diverticulum? My 74-year-old friend was diagnosed with it, along with “cricopharyngeal achalasia.” I’ve never noticed any swallowing difficulties before. — S.W. ANSWER: A Zenker’s diverticulum is an outpouching of the esophagus that extends posteriorly toward the spine, at about the level of the thyroid. The muscles there are relatively weak, and a swallowing abnormality can lead the inside of the esophagus to go through the muscular layer around the esophagus, leading to a blind pouch. The cricopharyngeus muscle is the primary muscle ...

We are the leaders we’ve been waiting for

Columns

We’re now officially in the run-up to the midterm elections, with less than two months to go before Election Day 2026. The good news is most Americans now understand how bad Trump is. With the exception of Nixon, he’s the most unpopular second-term president at this stage in his tenure in the history of polling going back to the 1940s. On issues where he once was strong — like the economy, national security and immigration — Trump is now underwater, with more Americans opposing than supporting his policies. All the major problems America now faces are entirely ...

Dear Annie: Held back by husband’s fears

Columns

Dear Annie: My husband is a kind, funny and intelligent man, but at dinner parties he has one habit that is starting to drive me crazy: He talks way too much. He loves telling stories, and once he starts, there is almost no stopping him. A simple story about running into an old friend can turn into a 20-minute play-by-play with every name, date, side comment and completely unnecessary detail included. He often interrupts himself to tell another story, then another, before eventually getting back to the original point. I can see our friends trying to be polite, but sometimes they stop ...

Steelers and faith: The foundation behind the Grit of the Gridiron

Columns

The late afternoon sun catches the twin spires of the Archabbey Basilica at St. Vincent College, casting a long shadow across the pristine practice fields of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ training camp. For 60 years, this rural patch of Westmoreland County has played host to an annual cross-cultural pilgrimage. Here, the secular spectacle of professional football doesn’t just collide with ancient faith; it pulls up a chair and makes itself at home. Last year, the prior of the basilica, Father Maximilian Maxwell, gained accidental national fame. A “fluky,” miraculous game-winning ...

Pennsylvania’s aging levees are under pressure from scarce funding and severe weather

Columns

Pennsylvania has over 180 levees that span approximately 155 miles (255 kilometers) and keep its rivers from flooding. They protect about 158,000 people and US$26.2 billion in property across the state, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. However, those levees are aging, and funding to maintain and improve them is becoming scarcer. At the same time, extreme weather is becoming increasingly frequent and severe. As a geotechnical engineer and geohazards researcher, I study how levees respond to flooding. I also help develop solutions to evaluate, manage and improve aging ...

Understanding the part that the spleen plays in leukemia

Columns

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’m 80. Over the past 26 years, I’ve had low blood platelet counts. (In 1998, one reading was 168,000, and in 2026, the reading was 117,000.) I have an enlarged spleen (16.1 centimeters), and I understand that this could account for my low platelet count. I do have tiny red dots on my chest. However, my doctor thinks that I have leukemia and is preparing me for a spinal tap. My doctor seems to be ignoring the spleen issue. My brother had a spleen removed (at age 5) because it was destroying his blood count. My mother did die from leukemia. My question is, would my ...