Lifestyles

To Your Good Health: Very hard to treat some cancers

DEAR DR ROACH: We’re all amazed at the substantial advances in treating cancer in recent years. But are there certain cancers that science and medicine haven’t had much success with? — A.M.H. ANSWER: I’m afraid so. Many cancers remain difficult or almost impossible to cure, due to a combination of factors. One is that certain cancers usually don’t cause symptoms until they’re large in size and likely to have spread. Another is that there are no curative chemotherapy or radiation options. Some cancers also spread very early; breast cancers can be metastatic (spread to ...

Friday evening TV

Bridge by Steve Becker

1. One notrump. This hand meets all the requirements for an opening one-notrump bid: 15 to 17 high-card points, balanced distribution (4-3-3-3, 4-4-3-2 or 5-3-3-2) and stoppers in at least three suits. It is far better to open with one notrump than one heart. Perhaps the most important ...

Finding a way to wind down from dream job

DEAR ANNIE: I was really excited when I landed my dream job a few months ago. It has great pay and a title that can really take me places. But now, just a few months in, I’m pulling my hair out. We’re in our “busy season,” which means lots of late nights and working weekends. Every time I finish one assignment, two more pop up. My problem isn’t the hours — I know busy season will end — it’s that I cannot sleep. For the past week, I’ve been lucky to get three or four hours a night. When my head hits the pillow, despite being exhausted, I start replaying every ...

Repatha for cholesterol

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’m a 75-year-old woman who’s in very good health. Since my early 50s, I’ve had issues with my cholesterol. My doctor has put me on several statins that caused very sore joints and muscle aches, to the point that I finally had to stop them. I felt that it just wasn’t worth all the aches and pains. My doctor decided to put me on the drug Repatha by self-injection every other week. This has worked amazingly well for me. I have no aches or pains from it, and we are both thrilled at my recent blood tests. I understand that Repatha is a fairly new drug. Do you have ...

Bridge by Steve Becker

A defender should assume, as a matter of course, that the contract he’s defending against can be defeated. If he does not cultivate this attitude as a regular habit, many opportunities to defeat opposing contracts will pass him by. Let’s say you’re East on this deal and partner leads the heart four against three notrump. Should you take the ace or withhold it? If you do take the ace, is it better to return a heart, or should you shift to another suit? If you do shift, should it be to a spade or a club? To find the answers to these questions, you must start by assuming that the ...