Dear Dr. Toshi, I get uncontrollable morning sneezing. Can you talk about that? It's impossible for me to diagnose a specific condition without seeing and examining the person, but we can talk in general about sneezing and possible causes of "morning sneezing." Sneezing can be annoying, as we all know. Sneezing is an upper airway reflex. Upper airw...

Dear Dr. Toshi, I'm taking a number of medications, and I don't really know what they're all for or whether I need to be taking all of them. What should I do? Last week I talked about how to optimize your visit to the clinic, and mentioned a few things about your medications. With the advancement of medical science and pharmaceutical research and d...

Dear Dr. Toshi, I just heard of a condition called "Metabolic Syndrome." What's that? "Metabolic syndrome" is a problem related to abdominal fat, blood pressure, blood glucose, and lipids (cholesterol and fats) that affects our health in significant ways. I talked about hypertension and cholesterol in previous articles, and also discussed BMI and w...

Dear Dr. Toshi, People talk a lot about Vitamin D. I'm outside a lot in the sun, so I shouldn't need any vitamin D supplement, right? You might already know that vitamin D is important in our body for the health of our bones. Vitamin D helps us absorb calcium and maintain strong bones. Without it, bones can become thin, brittle, or malformed (like ...

Dear Dr. Toshi, What's a heart attack and how does it happen? What's commonly known as heart attack is also called a "myocardial infarction" (MI). The heart is a muscular organ, and its muscle is called myocardium. Infarction is the death of the myocardium, and it's caused by coronary artery disease. Coronary artery disease is a disease of arteries...

Dear Dr. Toshi, I recently noticed that I'm losing more hair when I brush my hair. Is it normal to lose hair as we get older? Hair loss is common. We often see classic male pattern hair loss and women with thinning hair as they get older. It's possible that it's a simple "hair loss" (though the symptoms are not so simple emotionally), but there are...

Dear Dr. Toshi, Can vitamin C prevent me from catching a cold or even from getting COVID? You might have heard that vitamin C can help prevent a common cold or even COVID. Unfortunately, there's no clear data showing that vitamin C can help prevent colds, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). The AAFP says that taking vitam...

Dear Dr. Toshi, "Sometimes people say their spouse is crabby so they should have their vitamin B12 level checked. Can a low B12 level really make somebody crabby?" My answer is, "It's possible." If someone is anemic due to a vitamin B12 deficiency, they can experience symptoms like fatigue, irritability, and cognitive decline. Even people with a lo...

Dear Dr. Toshi, When I go to the doctor's office, it seems like sometimes I have to wait a long time in the waiting room or exam room for the doctor or other provider to see me. Why are they often running behind schedule like that? It's very frustrating as a patient to have to wait a long time even though you get to an appointment on time or even e...

Dear Dr. Toshi, I have an appointment coming up at my doctor's office. Could you tell me how to use my time with my provider in the most effective way? When you go to see your doctor or provider in a clinic, there are many things you can do to make the time more useful for yourself. Doctors and providers are specially-trained people who are your pa...

Dear Dr. Toshi, I get a little depressed every year around this time in the fall and winter. Is that something I should be concerned about? Have you ever heard of a condition called seasonal affective disorder (SAD)? If you have seasonal symptoms of depression every year around the same time, and your doctor ruled out (tested and made certain) that...

Dear Dr. Toshi,  I was told that I'd be referred to a specialist, but I didn't catch if the doctor said, "neurologist" or "urologist." Can you tell me what they are? I get this question quite often because there are so many specialists! So, today, I'd like to give you some information about doctors who specialize. In my mind, there are two big...

Dear Dr. Toshi,  What's the differences between cleaning, sanitizing (as in hand sanitizer), and disinfecting? What's the difference between disinfectants and antiseptics? What should we use against COVID-19? Antiseptics and disinfectants both kill microorganisms (germs) such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and tiny parasites like amoeba. An anti...

Dear Dr. Toshi,  What is osteoporosis?  I'm sure you've heard the word "osteoporosis." So, we'll talk about bone health today because osteoporosis is something to do with our bones. Do you know how many bones we have in our bodies? Over 200! There are big ones like our femurs (thigh bones; without them we couldn't walk or even stand) and ...

Dear Dr. Toshi, How do you become a doctor? Have you ever wondered what a "resident" or "resident physician" means? What are interns? How did they get to work at the hospital? Today, I'm going to give you a quick overview on how a person becomes a doctor! This process I'm going to explain today is about doctors who have an "MD" (Doctor of Medicine)...

Dear Dr. Toshi, "My doctor told me to stay hydrated. Should I drink water? How much should I drink?" I used to help out at marathons as a staff member in a medical tent. As you may know if you participated in an event like that or saw a marathon on TV, there are hydration stations along the route, where athletes can get fluid along the way. There a...

Dear Dr. Toshi, I haven't been exercising very much because of the COVID pandemic and it's been getting cold outside. What can I do? Early in the spring, when we had the first COVID-19 lockdown, I read an article about a young marathon runner who had to stay at home and couldn't exercise because of the lockdown. However, he really wanted to continu...

Dear Dr. Toshi, What are electrolytes?      At some time in your life, you may have been told to drink fluids that have electrolytes. Today I'll explain what the electrolytes are, why we need them, and how we test your blood for them. Did you know that our bodies have electric charges? An electric charge can be positive or negative, ...

Dear Dr. Toshi, I was just told that I tested positive for COVID-19. Can you tell me how to take care of myself at home? As you've probably been hearing in the news, North Dakota is currently the number one "hotspot" in the United States for the COVID-19 pandemic. It's spreading fast, and more people are getting sick and dying here every day. Fortu...

Dear Dr. Toshi,     When you go get your annual physical, your doctor may order a "lipid panel" as one of your blood tests. Lipids are fats and fatty substances in your body, and the results of the lipid panel include your total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and triglycerides. You might recall...