Dr. Gott: Heart Flutters Only Half-Diagnosed

Dear Dr. Gott: I started feeling flutters in my chest two years ago, at the age of 43. My family physician examined me and I had an ultrasound and stress test. Inderal took care of the rapid heartbeat until he weaned me off the medication. The flutters returned. Should I return to my family physician or seek the advice of a specialist?

Dear Reader: Heart fluttering indicates an abnormally rapid and/ or irregular pulse. There are many causes for this condition, ranging from serious heart disorders to harmless, temporary attacks brought on by stress or caffeinated beverages.

Your doctor apparently checked you for serious heart disease with an ultrasound and stress test, but he has yet to discover the reason for your fluttering. You need more testing, including blood analyses for anemia and an overactive thyroid gland.

Inderal is a beta-blocker that slows the heart rate. It is appropriate therapy for your condition, but I am concerned that your testing appears to be incomplete. The fact that your abnormal cardiac rhythm returned when the medication was stopped means that the cause of your palpitations is still a mystery.

Although your family doctor could certainly order the necessary testing, I believe that a second opinion is in order. Thus, I recommend that you see a cardiologist. Let me know how this situation is resolved.

To give you related information, I am sending you my Health Report “Coronary Artery Disease.” Other readers who would like a copy should send a long, self-addressed, stamped envelope and $2 to Newsletter, P.O. Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092. Be sure to mention the title.

Dear Dr. Gott: For the past several years I’ve had steadily increasing amounts of body hair appear on my face, neck, back, shoulders, arms and chest. I now shave my chin and neck twice daily – - not an easy accomplishment for a 37-year-old female. Can a doctor help me with this, or am I faced with no remedy other than shaving and plucking?

Dear Reader: Although most cases of unwanted excess body hair in women are — unfortunately — genetically dictated, some instances may be caused by a virilizing tumor. Such a growth, which produces excessive quantities of the male hormone testosterone, may arise in the adrenal glands, the ovaries or elsewhere in the reproductive tract.

Also, enlargement of the adrenal glands, so-called “congenital adrenal hyperplasia,” can cause inappropriate hair growth in a typically male pattern. Finally, polycystic ovaries (Stein- Leventhal syndrome) can cause virilization.

You definitely should be examined by your family physician (or an endocrinologist) and undergo blood and urine testing, as well as a CT scan and ultrasound.

The disorders I mentioned can be cured by surgery.

Write Dr. Gott c/o United Media, 200 Madison Ave. 4th floor, New York, NY 10016