Breaking News

Uncategorized

Radiofrequency ablation for pain

Dear Dr. Roach: Could you please comment on radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for chronic shoulder pain with rotator cuff disease? I’m 78 in good health with arthritis and a small separation of the rotator cuff. I’ve received epidurals that do work very well. I don’t want to keep getting them, but I also don’t want surgery. My shoulder orthopedic doctor dismisses RFA out of hand. “Nothing there to burn,” he says. I’ve researched this, and it seems like it’s being done, but I want to make sure that this is legit. I have full insurance, so I don’t think there is anything to ...

Feeling like longterm friendship one-sided

Dear Annie: I’ve been friends with “Jessie” for several years, but lately, I’ve been feeling like the friendship is one-sided. I’m always the one reaching out, making plans and putting in the effort. Jessie has been responding to my texts with one-word answers, if at all. I value our friendship a lot, but I’m starting to question whether she feels the same way. How can I address this issue without seeming needy? Should I confront her or let it go and just hope it changes back to what it was like before? Any guidance would be appreciated. — Friendship on Uneven ...

British TV’s Clarkson reveals cancer diagnosis

LONDON — British television personality Jeremy Clarkson revealed on his farm reality show that he has prostate cancer. Clarkson, 66, said that the disease is “aggressive,” but was detected early. He gave advance warning on social media Tuesday that he would share somber news on the final episodes of the fifth season of “Clarkson’s Farm,” the show based on the challenges of running Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire. The episodes were released on Wednesday. “Ordinarily we try to keep the show bucolic and charming, and cheerful, but two episodes which drop in the middle ...

Decision means lawmakers must regulate games

Did a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling just change the game for Pennsylvania’s gambling industry? No, lawmakers did. Skill games are gaming machines that might look at home in an arcade or a casino. For years, they have lived in a legal midway point. They make money like a slot machine but aren’t regulated as one. On Monday, the court changed that, deciding they are slots under existing state law and must be treated accordingly. The state Legislature has four months to figure out what to do next. Does it finally write laws that address the situation, or does it let the ...

On oil, China is smarter

We can thank China that gasoline prices aren’t higher than they are. By last month, China had cut imports of oil by 3 million barrels a day, the daily consumption of Italy and France combined. China’s economy, meanwhile, hums along. Americans agonize over how the price of oil affects gas at the pump. Were it not for China, a tank of gas would cost considerably more. “China is Propping Up the World Economy by Importing a Lot Less Oil,” reads a Wall Street Journal headline. There are several reasons China has been able to cut oil imports, but one is its move away from ...

Musk’s ‘trillionaire’ status a good thing

I am not a huge fan of Elon Musk as a political activist or commentator. I think he’s made Twitter — sorry, X — worse. His support for the nationalist right in Europe has been ugly. His tenure leading the Department of Government Efficiency mostly amounted to a missed opportunity and often descended into little more than performative vandalism. His personal life is not exactly consonant with my preference for bourgeois family values. Though, one can hardly accuse him of being a deadbeat dad. On the other hand, I am a huge fan of his accomplishments in business and engineering. He ...