Winehouse in early stages of emphysema

LONDON, June 23 (UPI) -- Amy Winehouse's father said the British soul singer is in the early stages of the progressive lung disease emphysema.

The BBC also quoted Mitch Winehouse as saying his 24-year-old daughter has been diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat.

The diagnosis came after the Grammy Award-winning singer was hospitalized last week following a fainting spell in her London home.

"Doctors have told her if she goes back to smoking drugs, it won't just ruin her voice, it will kill her," Mitch Winehouse told the Sunday Mirror. "She's got emphysema -- it's in its early stages, but had it gone on for another month they painted a very vivid picture of her sitting there like an old person with a mask on her face struggling to breathe. With smoking the crack cocaine and the cigarettes her lungs are all gunked up. There are nodules around the chest and dark marks. She's got 70-percent lung capacity."

Winehouse's publicist told the BBC: "If that's what Mitch says, that's what he says. It sounds right."