DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My grandson wrote down his symptoms. Can you help him? He is 15 and plays soccer.

“Dry throat; irritated throat during hard running. Makes me want to puke. During most days, stuffy, itchy nose.” — P.

ANSWER: Your grandson doesn’t mince words. He comes right to the point. I bet he is mouth-breathing when he runs hard. Almost everyone mouth-breathes when running. It’s the only way to get enough air into the lungs. However, some nose-breathing intermixed with mouth-breathing will keep the mouth and throat from drying out and keep the throat from being irritated. The nose filters incoming air and moistens it. The mouth does neither.

Your grandson has to practice nose-breathing. It’s not natural for runners. First, while running, he slows down his breathing rate by inhaling every two steps and exhaling on the next two steps. He should try to take as many breaths through the nose as possible. He has to make this a habit. If he does, mouth and throat won’t dry out and won’t become irritated, and he won’t feel like puking, a word I haven’t heard since high school.

I’m not asking him to give up mouth-breathing entirely, only to limit it.

Secondly, I believe he has allergies. The stuffy, itchy nose strongly suggests allergic-induced nasal congestion, which obstructs nose-breathing. I have a second suggestion. On a trial basis, he might want to try an antihistamine like Zyrtec (cetirizine). It doesn’t require a prescription and isn’t expensive. It comes in 5 mg and 10 mg tablets. Tell him to start with the 5 mg tablet. Have him take it one hour before he runs. The medicine reaches peak levels in an hour. One tablet takes care of a full 24-hour period. It doesn’t make most users sleepy. If, after a couple of tries, 5 mg doesn’t work, try 10 mg, once a day.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am a 26-year-old woman, 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 150 pounds. I know I weight too much. I am going on a diet and have started an exercise program that I will stick to. I paid a gym membership; that motivates me. What would you suggest my daily calorie intake ought to be? — V.O.

ANSWER: You can get a rough estimate of the calorie intake that keeps you at the weight you are now at. Multiply your weight by 10. That’s 1,500 for you. That’s your base daily calorie intake. If you’re not very active, take 20 percent of that number (1,500 X 0.2 300) and add it to 1,500 to give you a daily total of 1,800 calories. If you are fairly active, multiply by 0.3; if quite active, multiply by 0.4.

Decrease you calculated daily calorie intake by 250 calories, and you will theoretically lose half a pound a week. That’s doesn’t sound like a lot, but it gives you enough calories to not make you feel like you’re starving and takes a sensible amount of weight off in a sensible amount of time.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: You agree with a writer that distance running was not as important as sprints. I think you failed to understand the impact of distance running on fitness. I am 69 years old and still doing distance running. — J.H.

ANSWER: Thank you for your letter, but you missed the point I was trying to make. I was not implying that distance running isn’t important for all athletes and isn’t important for general well-being. It is aerobic exercise, the kind of exercise where large muscles (legs) are in continuous use for a prolonged period of time, at least 15 minutes. It’s the exercise best for the heart and for controlling blood pressure.

The point I wanted to make is specificity of training for a particular sport. Distance running isn’t the most important element in tennis. Tennis is a game where fast running for short time periods is essential. That’s why sprint training is so important for a tennis player.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www .rbmamall.com.

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