Dear Doctors: At age 51, I was diagnosed with severe rheumatic mitral stenosis. After a second round of tests, treatment was changed from open-heart surgery to balloon valvuloplasty. What can I do to help the results last?
In 1814, the United States and Great Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812.
In Sweden, there used to be a widespread belief that animals could talk on Christmas Eve.
DEAR HARRIETTE: I have a friend who is an immigrant, and he has been out of work for nearly two years. He has cobbled together enough money to scrape by, but if he doesn’t find a job soon, I worry that he will lose his apartment. He has a few close friends, myself included, who have helped him whenever we can, but it’s getting to be too much. I, for one, have a family and am working hard to make sure we have enough resources to take care of each other. I feel horrible, but I can’t continue to finance my friend. I have told him about the SNAP program and other social services that can help him, but he’s too proud to look into it. Honestly, I’m not sure if he is even eligible, but I do know that it’s foolish to let pride keep you from trying to get the help you need. What can I do for him now that I can’t continue to support him financially? – Friend in Crisis DEAR FRIEND IN CRISIS: I’m so sorry for your friend. Sadly, there are many people today who are suffering. Talk to your friend one more time very plainly. Tell him you cannot afford to continue your financial support, but you are worried about him and think he should investigate government aid. The truth is, though, restrictions on who can receive SNAP benefits and Medicaid have tightened for immigrants. If your friend has a valid green card, he should be eligible. Suggest that he reconsider applying for that support – for now. He doesn’t have to use it forever, but it is there to help people when they are in need.
Alittle more than 10 years ago, Jack Danforth, a former Republican senator from Missouri, wrote a prescient essay in Time that declared, “Today’s Republican Hardliners Aren’t ‘Conservatives’ – They’re Revolutionaries.”
For months now, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein has been the Democratic Party’s go-to subject for attacks on President Donald Trump. Yes, other events have presented an occasional target of opportunity, such as accusing Trump of murdering drug runners or wanting to hang Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., which Kelly seems particularly fond of that; he has been fundraising nonstop, sending out emails that begin, “President Trump is calling for me to be hanged.” But Democrats always return to Epstein, much as they did with Russia in the early years of Trump’s first term.
DEAR HARRIETTE: While most of my family members moved away when they went to college, I stayed in town.
Dear Doctors: My 31-year-old daughter has leg cramps, fatigue and brain fog.
Late in the movie “Shadowlands,” the C.S. Lewis character describes the role that books can play in real life.
• One of the worst ways to waste gas when driving your car is to accelerate quickly when the red light turns green. When you use your foot like it’s a solid piece of lead, all you really gain in time savings is a few seconds. Slowly accelerating and getting to the desired speed saves gas, and you will get to your destination in just about the same amount of time. Also, when you need to pass a car, try to do it when going downhill, not up. Passing a car while going uphill is a major gas guzzler.