The Little Black Book For Guys: Guys Talk About Sex

Uh-Oh; Delayed Puberty

Uh­Oh; Delayed Puberty

by Andrew Coimbra

Guys go through puberty at different ages, generally in the years between 10 and 18. By the time you're 15, though, puberty should probably have started. If you are 15 and there are no signs that testosterone has started doing its thing (check out the list on the previous pages), it may be "delayed puberty."

Don't panic - it happens. Puberty could be delayed for any of these reasons:

• It might be a family thing: Maybe the people in your family are simply late bloomers. That means your delayed puberty is a genetic thing, known as constitutional delay, which is cool because you probably don't require any treatments-your hormones are just taking their time before they kick in. Check with your doctor to be sure.

• It might be a long­standing medical thing: Your body might delay puberty if it's too busy fighting off an illness, especially if it's an ongoing one like diabetes or even asthma. If that's the case, your doctor is probably all over it already. If you've been sick a lot but you're not getting treated yet, get your ass to the doctor double quick!

• It might be a nutritional thing: Eating nothing but crap, or not eating enough of anything, can also delay puberty. You gotta eat enough nutritious food to keep your body fueled so it can work its mojo.

• It might be a Klinefelter thing: There's something called Klinefelter's syndrome that can also keep your puberty from arriving on time. It basically means you're born with an extra chromosome that tells your body to lowball the testosterone flow. But low flow don't mean no flow, and doctors can do a lot to help with this syndrome. If the doc tells you you've got this, you're already on your way to getting help.

The good news is that doctors can test for and treat all this stuff. So, if you want to learn more,

TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR!