Man’s hot flashes have not subsided

Dear Dr. Roach: I’m a 76-year-old man who was treated for prostate cancer starting in summer 2017. Following radiation therapy, I was given Lupron injections every six months for two years. It’s been two years since my last injection, but I still experience hot flashes as a result. Will these hot flashes stay with me for the rest of my life?

D.T.

Answer: Leuprolide (Lupron) is a medicine that prevents the body from making testosterone. Back in 1941, depleting testosterone was proven to slow prostate cancer growth, but even in the first group of subjects, there were men with severe hot flashes.

I can’t predict how long these symptoms will last. Given that they seem to be quite bothersome, you should ask your urologist or oncologist about treatment.

There are treatments that can reduce, though perhaps not eliminate, the number of hot flashes you get per day.

There are hormonal and nonhormonal treatments. Both antidepressants and antiseizure medicines have been found to work, even though hot flashes are not related to depression or seizures.

Dear Dr. Roach: I just got my COVID-19 vaccination with the Moderna vaccine. I will have a booster in 28 days. Am I protected from the “new strain”? Or will I need yet another type of vaccination?

J.P.

Answer: At the time of this writing, most experts agree that both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines provide a high degree of protection against the currently predominant strains. There is less protection against the South African variant.

Some variants, such as the UK B.1.1.7, seem to be more likely to transmit from person to person compared with those that have previously been circulating.

The more people that are infected with COVID-19, the more chances the virus has of developing a resistant variant. If that happens, a new vaccine would indeed be needed.

It is not clear whether yearly (or some other frequency) boosters will be required. This is all speculative until we have more information.