Background: Khat is a natural stimulant from the Catha edulis plant containing several chemical components, which
can explain palpitation as a frequent symptom that develops during or after
khat chewing. Aims: To study the effects of khat chewing on cardiac rhythm. Methods:
We selected sixty khat-chewing Yemeni individuals and divided them into two
groups: 30 were cardiac patients and the other 30 were non-cardiac individuals.
All 60 individuals underwent 24 hours holter monitoring for 2 consequent days;
the first was a khat-free day and the next was a khat-chewing day. The two
groups were matched for age, sex, smoking habit, BSA, systolic and diastolic
blood pressure. Non sustained Ventricular Tachycardia (VT) was defined as 3 or
more wide QRS complexes at a rate of 120 beats/min and for a period less than
20 seconds. Results: The non-sustained VT was found on 7 (23.3%) of the 30
cardiac patients on a khat-chewing day compared to 2 patients (6.6%) on a khat-free
day (p < 0.01). A significant
difference was also seen among the normal individuals; 1 patient (3.3%)
developed short runs of VT on a khat-chewing day compared to non VT on a khat-free
day. Conclusions: 1) Serious arrhythmias occur in both cardiac and non-cardiac
individuals during khat chewing days although they are more prominent among
cardiac patients. 2) This may indicate beta-blocker usage for high risk khat chewers
before khat chewing.
Cite this paper
Jayed, D. and Al-Huthi, M. A. (2016). Khat Chewing Induces Cardiac Arrhythmia. Open Access Library Journal, 3, e2809. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1102809.
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