Passing out

[April2]

We have a friend who's father passed out two Sundays in a row at Sunday school. They took him to the hospital the first time and ran a bunch of tests and couldn't find anything wrong with him. They did say his blood pressure was a little low. He refused to go to the doctor the second time saying they couldn't find anything wrong the first time. We can't figure out why he keeps passing out while in Sunday school. The only thing my friend can think of is he's real relaxed and his breathing slows. In that case he may be passing out at home, too. We don't know because he lives by himself. He's in his 70's, otherwise in good condition.
Any thoughts?

[April2]

Thank you both. I will mention all of this to my friends and see what they think.
Thanks again!

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hi,

Any episode of fainting should be taken seriously. In some people, fainting can occur without a serious underlying disease like at the time of death of a near one (a moment of sudden and intense grief), on seeing vomitus or on seeing blood (while visiting a hospital). In a good no. of people, fainting is due to some underlying problem that is mainly a cardiovascular problem or a neurological one. In old age, one of the commonest causes of fainting is “sick sinus syndrome”. In this condition, the sinus (the area of the heart that initiates the heartbeat) is sick and is no able to generate the heartbeat. Thus, the heart rate is quite slow in them and thus the brain is not able to get adequate blood resulting in fainting. For diagnosing this condition, something known as holter monitoring is required which is nothing but a 24 hr ECG monitoring. It’s able to pick any other arrhythmias (abnormal rhythms of the heart) also which can cause such fainting attacks.

I will suggest the test of holter monitoring, if it not done.

Thanking you.

Kind Regards.

[LMBrown10]

I had this problem for years, they were convinced it was a blood sugar problem.  Turns out I have a heart condition, where my blood pressure drops and my heart has a hard time pumping blood up to my brain.  The only treatment they can give me is exercise (which has helped, I haven't fainted in 6 years) and to sit down if I have to stand for more than 10 minutes or so.

Hope this helps, best of luck!