DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am in my mid-50s, 5 feet 10 inches tall and somewhat overweight. My doctors have told me my heartbeat is too slow. Apparently, most people have a heart rate of 60 to 100 at rest. Mine is 47.

While being prepared for a colonoscopy, the nurse asked if I was an athlete or runner. I am neither. The personnel expressed mild concern about my slow heartbeat. They asked if I have shortness of breath, fainting or dizzy spells. I do not. They gave me a shot to speed my heart up. This isn’t the only time I’ve been asked about this. I consulted my family doctor, who referred me to a cardiologist.

The cardiologist said he wasn’t concerned about my heart rate. He ordered other blood tests to check my thyroid. I am to wear a Holter monitor for 24 hours.

I would like your opinion about my low heartbeat. — S.A.

ANSWER: Bradycardia is the medical term for a slowly beating heart. Very athletic people have slow heart rates, often in the 40s and 50s. Superbly conditioned athletes have been recorded as having a rate in the 30s. Even nonathletes can have a slow beat. Their hearts pump more blood out with each beat than do the hearts of the rest of us.

You have no symptoms. The heart doctor looked for disturbances in the way your heart generates its beat — its innate pacemaker. The doctor found no trouble there. He found no trouble in the way the electric signal comes from the natural pacemaker and travels down special cables to reach the lower heart chambers to prod them to pump blood. People like you who have asymptomatic bradycardia — slow heartbeat with no symptoms — do not require immediate treatment.

I’ll even stick my neck out to say that your Holter monitor test, a device that records all your heartbeats for 24 hours, will be normal.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I had acid reflux (heartburn) for 20 years. In February 2011, my husband and I decided to try the paleo diet on a lark. I have not had any acid reflux since. I had diarrhea all my life. I no longer do. About four months into the paleo diet, my blood was tested for celiac disease. The tests were negative. I am feeling so much better. I don’t care whether I have celiac disease or not. — B.E.

ANSWER: Paleo (from “Paleolithic”) refers to an age when our ancestors subsided on fish, grass-fed game, fruits, vegetables and nuts. They ate no refined sugar, had no grains (wheat, barley, rye and oats), no salt and no processed foods.

I believe you do have celiac disease, the illness in which the digestive tract reacts to gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. Gluten sensitivity produces diarrhea, weight loss and stomach pain. The small intestine loses its ability to absorb nutrients.

The fact that your blood test didn’t show a positive result indicating celiac disease is not a surprise. You were on the diet for four months, so the telltale evidence for celiac disease had disappeared.

If you are interested in proving your diagnosis of celiac disease, you have to go off the diet. I got the message. That doesn’t appeal to you. It might not appeal to me, either.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I suffered a shower of floaters and immediately saw an eye doctor. I was sent to a specialist, who repaired the problem with a laser. All was good for a week or so, but I saw flashes of light, which was a sign of a detached retina. I had surgery, and I am pretty good now. Could my use of Viagra have brought on this problem? I was under light sedation during the procedure, but I was aware that the doctor and nurses were watching a movie. Is this a common practice? — T.L.

ANSWER: Viagra, Levitra and Cialis, medicines for erectile dysfunction, have not been implicated in retinal detachments. The doctor and nurses were probably looking at a screen magnification of your eye. They weren’t watching a movie, honest. Ask the doctor. It will give him or her good laugh.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com.

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