A. I am really sorry to hear about this. From the general tone of your sad email, I believe there is little doubt that you are seriously depressed.

That is very common in young people. It is caused from an imbalance of chemicals in the brain. Please note that alcohol can worsen this imbalance!

I urge you to see a doctor. Do not delay. The doctor will almost certainly put you on antidepressant medication for a while.

Although there has recently been some criticism of these drugs, the fact is that when young persons are depressed, a short course of antidepressants can often lift them out of misery.

I hope the doc will also put you in touch with a counsellor, who can aid you to review your life and approach life positively.

Don't despair. I am sure you can be helped. Do not take any sudden decisions in the next few weeks (apart from deciding to go to the doctor, of course). One should never make an important decision when depressed. Good luck.

A. One thing that's obvious is that you have something wrong with your lungs. A young guy should NOT be coughing up mucus like this.

Are you a smoker? If so, then please stop! I think you should go to a doc soon. Depending on what the physician finds, the doctor may want you to take an X-ray.

A. No, it is unwise! If you do not eat any fruit at all, you will not get enough vitamin C and other nutrients. There is a lot to be said for the idea that everyone should have around FIVE portions of fruit a day. Try it now! After all, fruit is not exactly bad-tasting, is it?

A. Not really. Women who have to 'use' two tampons at once are invariably bleeding more than they should. This heavy flow will probably give you anaemia. Let your doctor examine you. He or she will tell you whether you are already anaemic and will advise you on lessening the menstrual flow.

A. Well, let us hope that you will not lose your testicle. If you do, surgeons would be able to insert a false one for you, if you wish. However, this replacement testicle would not actually work. It is just a plastic thing that is there to make it seem like you have two testicles in your scrotum. Nevertheless, the good news is that your uninjured testicle will almost certainly take over the work of the missing one. So you should still be able to have sex, and you should be able to be a babyfather.

A. Sorry to hear about this. One thing you need to do is to rule out any physical cause for your sudden weight gain. So you should go to a doc, and ask the pysician to check you for thyroid trouble. This is because a hyperactive thyroid gland quite often makes people put on weight.

However, I must say the odds are that the guy who spoke to you in the food shop was right. Most people who put on weight do so because they are eating too much and taking too little exercise. When you see the doc, ask her for a strict diet sheet, and also for advice about regular daily exercise.

A. It doesn't matter how many times per day a guy shaves. Some men only need to shave around once per week. Others, like your new boyfriend, do it four times a day. There is a link between beard growth and the output of testosterone hormone. So the likelihood is that your boyfriend's body generates a lot of that male hormone.

A. Yes, indeed. The clitoris is slightly shielded by a little fold, which is the equivalent of the male foreskin. When a women gets sexually excited, the hood goes back a little, and the clitoris emerges a few millimetres.

In the three or four cases of men, who I have helped with this condition, all reported success - and no circumcision was necessary.

A. Thank you for that. I have received a couple of emails from the US on this subject. That's not surprising ‹ because the operation of circumcision is still used far too often in America. A lot of guys are understandably resentful about being circumcised unnecessarily. I would just repeat that fairly recent research work in Cambridge, England, suggests that putting a tiny amount of hydrocortisone cream on the foreskin - under a doc's supervision - can help it to stretch.