Q I want to know if at 21, I can still increase my height. I weigh 43 kg, and my height is five feet. The height of people in our family is average. I am really anxious to know about this problem.

A The height of a person depends a lot on the length of the long bones in your body i.e. the bones of the arms and legs. Long bones grow at both ends from a piece of cartilage called the growth plate. At a certain age, usually soon after puberty, the growth plate becomes calcified and can no longer produce new bone to increase its length. That is the reason why excess production of growth hormones at a young age gives rise to a condition called gigantism, where the patient’s height increases along with growth of the rest of the bones in the body, but if the excess growth hormone is produced after a certain age, the patient’s height remains the same and only the bones of the face, hands and feet grow – a condition called acromegaly.

The probability that at the age of 21 your growth plates are still present is quite low. But consulting a doctor for a check-up would be the first step in finding out if anything can be done.

In general, if anyone for any reason wants to ascertain his or her potential height (there are methods of predicting a person’s final height), the correct time to start contacting a specialist to find out its predicted height is around 9-10 years of age and the time to start doing something about it is around 11-12 years of age.

Dr M. Amjad Khan
Liaquat National Hospital

Q I am a 20-year-old female. For about more than three years I've been suffering from acne problem. Initially I did consult a dermatologist and after using the prescribed medicines got no satisfactory results. Now that the problem is getting on my nerves I want to have a complete treatment again but almost every other person says that during the treatment intake of antibiotics would solve just one problem and give rise to many other complications. Please tell me what I should do.

A You are suffering from a common problem called acne vulgaris. This commonly affects in our teenage and it is presented as papules, pustules, nodules and comedones that are black heads and white heads.

There are multiple treatment options available but those depend upon the type of acne you are suffering from, that is mild, moderate and severe. Antibiotics which are commonly prescribed in acne are minocycline, and should be taken for four months. The most common side-effect is GI upset. Avoid exposure to sunlight because the drug makes your skin more sensitive to sunlight, this may develop chances of having sunburn.

I do not think that antibiotic used in the treatment of acne gives more complications. Simultaneously, you can also use topical antibiotic, retinoic acid and azelic acid.

The other best treatment option for you is to take oral retinoids, that is synthetic derivative of vitamin A. Again oral retinoids have to be taken for four months and there are certain lab investigations that have to be done before we start oral retinoids.

Dr Jafar Imam
LNH

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