To overcome their medical inertia, education must be pervasive and start young. From their earliest days, after all, boys are predisposed to tough it out rather than admit they might be sick. Alex Weintraub, a 13-year-old from an exclusive New Jersey suburb, was the apple of his father's eye, in part because of his budding basketball talent. But one day last year Alex quit the game. "He refused to play at all," said his father Alan, a Manhattan attorney, who felt bereft. "I loved going to those tournaments, and I thought Alex did too."
Apparently not. Turning to what his dad jokingly called "punk culture," Alex took up skateboarding. "I'm too tired to play basketball," he complained. No one understood what was going on with Alex until a relative with similar childhood symptoms pressed him for details. Finally, months after the problem began, Alex was able to put what he really felt into words: Whenever he exerted himself, he couldn't breathe. A pulmonary specialist diagnosed Alex with sports-induced asthma and prescribed an inhaler. He's now back playing basketball and explains the episode in typical male fashion: "I didn't want to make a fuss."
