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HINTS FROM HELOISE: Toothbrush heads can be tricky

DEAR HELOISE: Regarding the person who complained about their toothbrush only vibrating instead of spinning, the fault isn’t with the toothbrush. I had the same thing happen to me, and I have a very well-known brand of toothbrush. The problem is with the brush head. I changed mine, and it works fine now. — Jan P., via email DEAR HELOISE: Your column about fake electric toothbrush heads got my attention. My toothbrush stopped spinning months ago, so after reading your column, I thought I must have a fake brush head. I ordered new heads, but the brush still didn’t spin. I read ...

TO YOUR GOOD HEALTH: Treating depression resulting from grief

DEAR DR. ROACH: My sister died about a month ago. We were very close, and I was with her when she died of a brief but serious illness. The day after, I felt completely unbalanced. I had brain fog and nausea, which comes and goes, as well as extreme exhaustion and tinnitus. I saw my general physician and asked for a full blood test, which came back normal. She said that all signs pointed to grief and stress from a traumatic event. I then went to my doctor of otology, who did a full ear exam and concurred with my physician. I’ve had many people who’ve passed away in my life, ...

Becker on bridge

The expert’s chief stock in trade is his ability to reason well. His logic is seldom the deep sort, but the kind of logic that can be more accurately described as plain common sense. Consider this deal where it would be easy to go wrong. West leads the jack of hearts, covered by the Q-K-A. ...

US school vaccination rates inch down yet again

NEW YORK — U.S. kindergarten vaccination rates inched down again last year and the share of children with exemptions rose to an all-time high, according to federal data posted Monday. The fraction of kids exempted from vaccine requirements rose to 4.2%, up from 3.6% the year before. That's ...

Will Viagra reduce the risk of dementia?

Q. A few years ago, you wrote about a Viagra study. It looked really promising, because it showed a 30% to 54% reduction in Alzheimer's disease from a drug that isn't even taken daily! I really hope that researchers will follow up with a clinical trial. Meanwhile, men could try taking Viagra. But what about women? A. Back in 2024, researchers reported preliminary results suggesting that sildenafil (Viagra) might help protect against Alzheimer's disease (AD). One report noted that sildenafil reduced phosphorylation of tau, one of the important risk factors neurologists note for this ...