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Dear Dr. Roach: I am a 72-year-old man in excellent health and physical condition. I ride a bicycle 100 kilometres a week, and I generally feel good.

A wise person once remarked: 鈥淚t ain鈥檛 what you don鈥檛 know that get you into trouble. It鈥檚 the things you know for sure that ain鈥檛 so.鈥� Most doctors and patients are convinced cholesterol-lowering drugs (CLDs) prevent heart attack.

Dear Dr. Roach: I am 40 years old and have been diagnosed with angioectasia of the gastrointestinal tract. From my readings, it seems this is a problem in the elderly. What can I expect with this disease, and what is my prognosis? E.C.

Visually and otherwise, budget-friendly dried chickpeas are not at all glamorous. But that changes when they are properly soaked and cooked into a dish that鈥檚 aromatic and rich with spice and flavour. A tasty example of that is chana masala.

Dear Dr. Roach: I am 75 years old and in good health. At age 20, I had an exploratory operation resulting in an appendectomy. Eight years ago, I underwent a gallbladder removal. In the past two years, I鈥檝e had four small-bowel obstructions.

Dear Dr. Roach: I鈥檓 a very active 79-year-old woman who had a colonoscopy three months ago and is still suffering with pain on my right side. I have had a CT scan and an ultrasound, and they say there is nothing wrong. Do you have an answer? N.F.

Dr. Roach writes: As I write this, another gun tragedy has taken place in the United States. By the time it gets published, about 1,500 more people are likely to have been killed by guns, many accidentally.

I hope my columns during 2017 have helped readers live longer and healthier. So which of the following are true or false? 1. There鈥檚 evidence that regular activity lowers the risk of dementia.

Dear Dr. Roach: I鈥檓 writing to you regarding my husband鈥檚 cancer. He has thymic carcinoma, diagnosed January 2014. It was stage 4.

Dear Dr. Roach: I have read in your previous columns that you have expressed caution about taking medications like Fosamax. I hope you can help me with my situation. I am 76 years old. I took Fosamax for 13 years, stopping in 2010.