What can you do about oral warts? They are in my throat. I'm too embarrassed to go to the doctor unless he can do something about it.

F.C.

Warts can be cut, frozen or burned out. The carbon dioxide laser is commonly used to burn out warts, but other techniques can provide similar results. The exact technique used depends greatly on the location of the wart(s) and the preference of the surgeon.

Unfortunately, like the kudzu vine, warts have a bad habit of coming back, even after they appear to have been eradicated. To understand this, you need to know something about the little buggers that cause warts.

Oral warts are caused by a virus -- papillomavirus, to be exact. Viruses are little more than protein-coated, renegade bits of DNA capable of commandeering a cell, forcing it to create more viruses. Viruses are biological chain letters. The envelope is the protein coat that protects the letter. The letter (viral DNA) contains instructions that tell the cell how to produce more envelopes with letters (viruses).

Now imagine that every individual in a particular town receives a chain letter. Some people will throw the letter out without opening it; some will hang on to the letter and think about sending out more chain letters; and some people will enthusiastically mail out more chain letters.

In this analogy, the town is your mouth and throat, and the enthusiastic letter-writers are ... well, they're the warts. And, as in this analogy, there are cells in your mouth that aren't producing virus right now, but continue to keep "the letter" (viral DNA) and could form a wart at a later date.

This doesn't mean that you should not seek treatment. Any ear, nose and throat doctor (ENT) could help you with this problem. If the warts are bothering you, then by all means, take care of them.

You also need to know that the papillomavirus can be transmitted by close contact, and (like the herpes virus) the papillomavirus can cause a sexually transmitted disease. Oral warts can cause genital warts and vice versa, through oral-genital contact. Oral warts can also be transmitted by oral-oral contact (kissing, for example). You should give serious consideration to having the warts removed to protect people with whom you are in close contact.