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Learn about Legionnaires’ disease and how it’s spread

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’ve been hearing about Legionnaires’ disease. What is it? How’s it spread? Can it really be spread through windshield wipers? — D.G. ANSWER: Legionnaires’ disease is a pneumonia caused by Legionella pneumophilia. Legionella live in soil and water, and water remains the most important source of infections in humans — not from drinking the water but through aerosolized water. Air-conditioning cooling towers and water systems are the usual sources of large outbreaks, such as the one occurring as I write this in New York City. There’s (almost) no ...

Warning signs of social isolation

Human beings are wired for social connection, but millions of people confront isolation every day. Many of those people are seniors who lose contact with loved ones as time goes by. While temporary loneliness can be tolerated, prolonged isolation can be very harmful. Research by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine found roughly one-quarter of American adults age 65 and older live in isolation. Identifying the early warning signs of isolation may help to prevent the physiological and psychological toll isolation can take. Here are some signs of social ...

Bridge by Steve Becker

1. Double. The best way to show the strength of this hand is to start with a double. A simple overcall of two clubs would not adequately address the game possibilities and might lead to missing a good game contract in spades, diamonds, clubs or even notrump. It is true that a takeout double of one major suit tends to imply good support for the other, but this does not mean that such support is absolutely guaranteed. The more important consideration is to show the general strength of a hand, and the double in this case serves that purpose best. You plan to bid two clubs over ...

Tart cherry juice can help ease arthritis pain

Q. Your article on glucosamine increasing the chance of dementia progressing caught my attention. But it also made me feel smug. I stopped taking glucosamine with chondroitin when I discovered that taking dark cherry juice daily works better for my joint pain. It was an article here on People’s Pharmacy that inspired me to try it. Now I have no more knee pain and much better flexibility. It has also helped the arthritis in my fingers. A. How wonderful that you have found a natural way to alleviate your joint pain. A double-blind randomized trial conducted more than a decade ago ...

Dear Annie: Granddaughter wonders if girl is half-sister

DEAR ANNIE: My granddaughter, “Melanie,” thinks that she has a half-sister 24 years younger. Melanie believes that her father, long divorced from her mother, was asked by his former unattached girlfriend with whom he remained friendly, to “help” her have a child before it becomes biologically too late. Now, my granddaughter has become very attached to the 2 and 1/2 year old and visits her at least once a week. She finds a lot of physical resemblance to herself when she was that age. She sees her father participate lovingly in the little girl’s activities. She has asked him ...

Hints from Heloise: Crossword puzzles help to kill time

DEAR HELOISE: I had to chuckle when I read the letter in your column from the woman who mentioned taking a crossword puzzle book to the doctor’s or other appointments when there’s a wait. I’ve been doing this myself for years. Everyone else is sitting there playing with their smartphones and looking at me like I’m weird. But my cellphone is a “dumb” flip phone, and I enjoy the crosswords. I’m in my 80s and call them “mental gymnastics.” — An Old Fuddy-Duddy in the Buckeye State Fuddy-Duddy, I’ve read that crossword puzzles help keep the mind sharp and active, ...