A friend of mine has contacts with a gym where 'muscle-strengthening' drugs are available. Should I try them?

A Definitely not! These muscle-building drugs can have real serious side effects, including making a guy lose his 'nature'.

As you are badly underweight, I suggest that you get a medical check-up, probably including tests for worms. Ask the doctor to give you details on a healthy, high-protein diet.

After that, you should join a gym where drugs are NOT used. Get one of the coaches or trainers to put you on a programme to build muscle. If you follow that plan, working out every day for the next six months, you will find that by May or June 2009, you will have a great body, with excellent, well-developed muscles. Good luck.

QI am an 18-year-old woman and I would like to know if it is true that yeast infections are caused from having a climax?

ANo, yeast infections - also known as candida infections - are caused from a fungus called thrush. They have nothing to do with having orgasms.

QI am a 19-year-old guy and I am rather worried that I might be infertile. I lie awake at night fretting about it.

I don't know why I have that fear. Could I undergo a test to determine this?

AI am not sure why you are fretting about this matter since, statistically, it is most unlikely that you are infertile. Fewer than five per cent of young guys are sterile.

I believe you should undergo a few counselling sessions to help you banish these irrational fears. However, if you are determined to have your fertility checked, go to a doc and arrange a sperm test.

This involves providing a sample of your semen in a sterile glass container. The sample is obtained by masturbation. The container goes to the hospital lab where medical technologists examine your sperm under a microscope, count them and then report back to your doctor.

Importantly, the sample must be FRESH when it is examined.

I am sure that you will turn out to be fertile and that you will quit fretting.

QWould having a Pap smear cause me to lose my virginity?

AConceptually, one can only lose one's virginity through sexual intercourse.

However, in most virgins, there is a small membrane which stretches across the lower end of the vagina. It is called the hymen or 'virgin's veil'.

All sorts of objects can break that membrane, including tampons or a finger. It can also be broken during petting.

When you do a Pap smear test, the doc or nurse will begin by inserting a small metal or plastic device called a speculum to allow her to see your cervix. The insertion of the speculum might break the hymen.

Why doesn't the speculum ALWAYS break the hymen? There are two reasons for this. First, there is always a gap in the hymen which allows the menses to pass through. Also, some persons' hymens are quite elastic.

However, even if the speculum does break your hymen, that does NOT rob you of your virginity.

QI have been masturbating since I was 14 or 15. When I get married, will I be able to give it up?

AAlmost certainly. The frequency of masturbation decreases as guys get older, especially when they establish a sexual relationship with a regular partner.

However, research done in the United States shows that some married men still masturbate, especially when they are away from their wives, for instance, on a business trip.

QRecently, I let a guy perform oral sex on me and I discharged. Could I contract a sexually transmitted infection (STI) from oral contact?

AYes, STIs are sometimes transmitted by oral sex. Statistically, it is a little unlikely that a single contact could have given you an infection, but it could happen.

If you are still worried, please go to a doc or clinic for a check-up.

QI am male, and I wonder why I seem to think about sex 24/7? I have asked some of my friends and they say that they don't think about sex all the time.

AWell, we are all different. Some people are a lot more highly sexed than other folks. For instance, research has shown that some guys would like to have sex every day of the year, but others would be more than happy doing it once a month.

A major factor is how much testosterone you have. Testosterone is the male sex hormone, and its blood levels are very high in some young men, and pretty low in others. If your testosterone is high, you will keep thinking about having sex with girls.

In contrast, if the blood testosterone level is low, a guy will scarcely think about sex.

There is nothing you can do to change your testosterone levels, so I think you should just try to be happy that you are the way you are.

QI love my boyfriend very much and I am sure he loves me. However, he never says so.

Why is this? Do boys have some kind of feature in their brain that makes it difficult for them to say 'I love you'?

ANo, they don't. I am sorry to be so blunt with you, but again and again I have seen this situation in which a girl is convinced that a boy 'must' love her when in reality he doesn't.

It is certainly possible that this guy loves you. But you have absolutely no PROOF of that.

QI am a 16-year-old boy. Last year, I experimented with some pills. Now I find that my penis only measures five and a half inches in length when erect.

Could this be due to the tablets I took?

AWell, you don't say what these pills were. However, a length of 5.5 inches is really pretty good for a guy of only 16, so I assure you that you have nothing to fret about.

Having relationship, sexual or other health problems? Email questions to saturdaylife@gleanerjm.com or post to Doctor's Advice, c/o The Gleaner Company, 7 North Street, Kingston.