Dear Doctors: Has there been any progress in figuring out how to treat long COVID? I have been dealing with the symptoms for two years, and my doctor seems to have given up. Is anyone even doing research anymore? I feel as though we are being forgotten.
Dear Doctors: What do you know about a study that says aerobics might be good for slowing down the progression of Alzheimer’s disease? I’ve read that being active helps your memory, but how would it affect an actual disease?
DEAR HARRIETTE: My youngest sister is in the process of applying and being accepted to colleges – for the second time. She’s had some trouble in the past in terms of staying focused and prioritizing her degree and her education, and now as she’s applying to get back into college, she’s constantly consulting her friends. I won’t pass judgment on any of her friends because I don’t really know their track records all that well, but I worry that she is more concerned with going to the same school as friends than with using college as an opportunity to learn new things, meet new people and explore herself more. Having friends going through the same things as you can be great, but I don’t want her to be too dependent on others or use friends as a crutch out of fear. I don’t want to come off as controlling. I just don’t want to see her get distracted from another great opportunity. – College Influences DEAR COLLEGE INFLUENCES: Talk to your sister more, and offer to help her through the application process. Ask her what she wants to study and what she wants to do with her life. Encourage her to select schools that specialize in her interests as her top priority. In this way, she can prepare herself for her future.
Hello, dear readers, and welcome to the monthly letters column. We are well into the third month of the new year, and for some of us – the data say it’s probably most of us – the resolutions we made on Jan. 1 have already fallen by the wayside. We have been hearing from readers asking for encouragement, and have also had readers sharing tips that are helping them stay on course. We’ll have a resolution reset column coming soon. And now, onward to the mail.
DEAR HARRIETTE: I love beaches and sandy vacations, but somehow I also have a wild fear of deep waters. I don’t think I had ever come to that realization before – probably because I’m never too far from shore and I’m tall – which also makes me feel embarrassed about the whole thing.
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DEAR HARRIETTE: One of my good friends has retreated completely.
• When you’re shopping for flowers to make an arrangement, it’s always best to buy locally grown. But if you live in an area where there aren’t abundant flower farms, do the next best thing: Choose California-grown. Eighty percent of the flowers grown in the U.S. are from California, so looking for their mark is a way to ensure your blooms weren’t grown in faraway countries and help lessen their carbon footprint.
DEAR HARRIETTE: Today I saw and smelled someone smoking crack on a subway platform near to where I was standing. I was stunned. I know it happens all around my city – in theory – but I’ve never truly witnessed it in real time, only the aftereffects of it. What could I have done in that moment to help that situation? The subway platform was packed. There were little kids with their parents standing nearby, businesspeople and others. It felt unsafe and gross. None of us should be exposed to these sorts of reckless substances unknowingly. – Crack Exposure DEAR CRACK EXPOSURE: Sadly, many people continue to use drugs like crack, and enclosed public spaces are often where they use them, especially when it is cold outside and they are seeking shelter. That doesn’t mean, by the way, that it is OK or that you should look the other way. What you could have done is locate transit police and report the activity so that the person could be removed from the platform.
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