Dear Dr. Gott: Our family is perplexed by a condition my 38-year-old daughter has had for around nine years — dizziness without passing out. She says that when she turns her head to one side (I don’t know if it is left or right), she feels this symptom coming on.The doctors have twice run extensive tests on her brain and heart with no abnormalities. Do you know what a possible cause might be and what she can do? Dear reader:<$> From your brief description of her symptom, I believe that her faintness and dizziness are caused by an interruption of blood flow to the brain.When one of the two carotid arteries in the neck is partially blocked, turning the head or looking up can lead to a diminished blood flow to the brain, with resulting lightheadedness and faintness.

In my opinion, the next step for your daughter is a simple and safe test called a carotid ultrasound, which will show whether a blockage is present. She should ask her primary-care physician about having this test done. Dear Dr. Gott> I was very interested in your article about irritable bowel syndrome and your reader’s success with Digestive Advantage IBS. I also suffer from IBS and have had a two- to three-month episode two or three times a year for the last 20 years.My latest session involved constipation rather than diarrhoea, which was just as troublesome, as I often passed messy gas and had to wear sanitary pads.

Like your other readers, I was at the store looking for something for relief when I noticed the Digestive Advantage product. I decided to give it a try and, although my results were not immediate, my symptoms cleared up within two weeks, and I was regular again. I’ve been taking this product for four months now and have not had any IBS symptoms.

The directions state that you should not stop taking this product, or your symptoms will return. As my symptoms were so distressing, I have been afraid to stop taking the daily tablet but now wonder whether I will have to take it for the rest of my life.

I can’t help but wonder whether these directions are a marketing ploy and a way for Digestive Advantage to increase its sales. I read your column regularly and would be very interested in your opinion.Dear reader: Stay with the medicine if it is working. If after a year of therapy your symptoms have not returned, you could — under your doctor’s supervision — cut back on the Digestive Advantage. I am impressed by your improvement.

To give you related information, I am sending you a copy of my newly updated Health Report “Digestive Gas.” Other readers who would like a copy should send a long, self-addressed, stamped envelope and $2 to Newsletter, PO Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092-0167. Be sure to mention the title.Doctor Gott is a practicing physician and the author of the new book “Dr. Gott’s No Flour, No Sugar Diet,” available at most chain and independent bookstores. . Write directly to Dr. Gott c/o United Media, 200 Madison Ave., 4th fl., New York, NY 10016.