Re: Atrial Fibrillation

Posted By CCF CARDIO MD-APS on June 02, 1998 at 17:01:07:

In Reply to: Atrial Fibrillation posted by GRAG on May 27, 1998 at 16:52:27:






I have a close friend who we think may have Atrial Fibrillation. He is 64 years old and very fit, " exercise nut". Symtoms (symptoms) include,rapid heartbeat that can last an hour or a day, followed by exhaustion, some shortness of breath during these periods. He leads a very healthy lifestyle except he has one vice, daily marijuana smoker. Would this attribute to his problems? He has an appointment with a cardiologist in 2 weeks.
Thanks!



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Dear CRAG,
Without knowing the underlying structure of your friend's heart I can not but say
that there are a myriad of potential causes of his rapid heart beat and even
separate causes of his breathlessness that follows.  the breathlessness is more
concerning than skipped beats, of course he requires a full history and physical
as well as a holter monitor/event monitor to record the 'fast heart beats'.
If anything his wxercise is a big plus for his health, however the marijuana
habit is potentially very threatening to his lungs.  For instance, he could be having allergic
reactions in his lungs to contaminants in the marijuana preparation.  This is all very
speculative, thus I will not even speak of things that lead to atrial fibrillation; feel free
to ask further questions on this web site should your friend have an evaluation
require information regarding a diagnosis.  In the meanwhile, it would be best that
he quit any tobacco type habits in the interest of his overall health especially the health of
his lungs.  Informaiton provided in the Heart Forum is intended for general informational
purposes only, actual diagnosis and treatment can only be made by your physician(s).