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Continuous glucose monitor can provide info to prediabetic

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 75-year-old man with an elevated A1C level; I was diagnosed with prediabetes. I feel healthy but have struggled to lose weight. I was wondering what your feeling are on using a glucose monitor. –– F.M. ANSWER: A continuous glucose monitor is a device shaped like a disc, and the smallest of them are only just larger than a quarter. They measure blood sugar levels without having to prick the finger at intervals of 1-15 minutes and send the result instantly to a meter or a smartphone. A single device can usually stay in place for a week to 15 days, and a person ...

Unprofessional service provider loses customer

Dear Heloise: In response to Diane T. in Arizona, I had the opposite happen to me. I had been going to a hairdresser for many, many years. It was my hairdresser who started to not be on time. My time is important to me. I booked appointments on my day off from work. I am a morning person, but she did not open until 11:00 a.m., so I was making my appointments for 11 or 11:30. Several times over the last year that I saw her, she was the one arriving late. She would call me to tell me where she was and why she was late. The reasons she gave did not sit well with me. Plus, she didn’t ...

Today in History

Today is Friday, Jan. 2, the second day of 2026. There are 363 days left in the year. Today in history: On Jan. 2, 2016, a heavily armed group led by brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, beginning a 41-day standoff to protest the imprisonment of two ranchers convicted of setting fires on public land and to demand the federal government turn over public lands to local control. Also on this date: In 1890, President Benjamin Harrison appointed Alice Sanger as the first female White House staffer at a time of a growing movement for ...

Horoscope

ARIES (March 21-April 19). It won’t be necessary to meet anyone halfway because people want what you want. So you’ll have effortless compatibility -- the kind where you just understand each other and don’t have to compromise. TAURUS (April 20-May 20). The day asks for forgiveness, especially of yourself. Carrying old blame into a new year is like wearing too many coats for the weather. Shed it. You’ve learned what you needed to know, and today you are brand new. GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Forget about mistakes of the past. Compassionate integration is the way. Take the lesson, ...

Reasons to put peace first in 2026

Dear Readers: Before we rush into a brand-new year, I want to pause and say thank you. Thank you for reading, for writing in and for trusting me with the parts of your life you don’t always share at the dinner table. Thank you for letting this corner of the page be a place where we can talk about the messy, meaningful work of being human. I don’t take that lightly. And if no one has told you lately, I’m glad you’re here. New Year’s Eve has a funny way of making us feel two ways at once: hopeful and raw. Hopeful because we get to begin again. Raw because we can’t help but ...

Defining what it means to be a ‘healthy’ person

DEAR DR. ROACH: I read your column daily in my local newspaper. The people who write in often describe themselves as “healthy” or “in good health.” Then they always add that they are taking some sort of medication for some sort of ailment. Can you please clarify which attributes make a person healthy as opposed to unhealthy? –– L.S. ANSWER: I don’t think there is a definition of “healthy” that everyone would agree on. One author described it as an absence of chronic suffering. The World Health Organization also gave a definition, stating that “health is a state of ...