DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Please provide information on a disorder called syncope. In September of last year, I blacked out in the bathroom. Right before, I felt dizzy and lightheaded. I was given a CT scan, examined and had bloodwork done. All came back normal, including a 24-hour Holter monitor. Will you tell me more about this? It’s my third blackout. The first was in the 1980s, and the second in 2001. — M.C.

ANSWER: Syncope is a faint. Almost everyone has fainted once, or come close to fainting. People on the verge of fainting feel queasy and turn ashen. They become lightheaded, perspire and produce a large amount of saliva. When the actual faint occurs, they crumple to the ground and are out of it for a very short time. Fatigue, prolonged standing, a hot, stuffy room, hunger and stress are some of the things that trigger a faint.

Most faints are innocent and aren’t a sign of a serious medical condition. The most common variety is called neurocardiogenic, or vasovagal, syncope. Translated, those terms mean that there’s a sudden dilation of blood vessels (vaso), which makes blood pool in the legs. That takes a fairly large amount of blood out of circulation. Then the body does something stupid. It slows the heart, the exact opposite of what it should do. The slow heart, along with a volume of blood taken out of circulation, cause a drop in blood supply to the brain. Now the body does something smart. It makes the affected person fall to the ground. In the horizontal position on the ground, blood gets back into circulation, and the heart speeds once the brain’s blood supply is restored.

Even though you have had three faints separated by many years, I have to believe you are not suffering from an underlying illness of any significance. Your description is classic for the ordinary kind of faint, and an investigation into possible serious illness revealed nothing. I’d go ahead without dwelling on these three episodes. If you do feel another faint coming on, you can stop it in its tracks by lying down until circulation is restored.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Is there a cure for H. pylori? — J.S.

ANSWER: H. pylori is the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. It’s able to survive in the inhospitable environment of stomach acid and digestive juices. Nearly 50 percent of the world’s population has this germ in their stomachs, and they usually acquire it in the first few years of life. Most of those who carry it have no signs or symptoms, but live peacefully with it forever.

However, up to 10 percent of carriers develop either a stomach or duodenal ulcer, and in a smaller percentage, stomach cancer materializes. Some carriers come down with dyspepsia, which is vague stomach pain or discomfort along with a feeling of fullness on eating only a small portion of food.

H. pylori can be cured. A combination of three or four medicines eradicates it. Two of those medicines are the antibiotics clarithromycin and amoxicillin, coupled with a medicine that suppresses the production of stomach acid. Omeprazole (Prilosec) is one such drug. This is only one of many such combinations. Treatment success is demonstrated by lab tests that show the bacterium is gone. Those tests are stool tests or a breath test that demonstrates no urea in the breath. Urea is a byproduct of this germ.

As many as 80 percent are cured with one treatment. If cure hasn’t been achieved, a second course of medication with different drugs will cure the remaining 20 percent, nine times out of 10. If the second round fails, then it’s probably wise to seek referral to a place with the capability of testing the germ for its sensitivity to antibiotics.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Please address the problem of split heels. They’re painful. — B.V.

ANSWER: The skin on the bottom edge of your heel probably is thick, leathery and dry. Get a pumice stone or a callus file, both obtainable in drugstores, and pare down the skin. Then apply to that skin a daily moisturizer. AmLactin is a good one.

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.