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AnxietyConnection.com

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Thursday, November, 26, 2009
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Hi Crissy2112,   Online sites are great resources for information when seeing your doctor about managing your care. Welcome to Health Central, one of the best!!We have a cardiac section that you can access here. While I don't think your anxiety directly caused your issues, there is no doubt that anxiety is taxing on the body and can have an adverse affect on your health. That being said, there is an article here that suggests that panic and anxiety attacks could affectually make heart disease issues more prevalent. You can read the entire article here, but here is an excerpt:   "After adjusting for all those factors, the researchers found that full-blown panic attacks were associated with a fourfold higher risk of heart disease, nearly twice the risk of stroke, and a 75 percent increase in risk of death from any cause, compared to women who'd experienced no panic attacks. Women who'd had limited panic attacks fared somewhat better. The adjusted risk of heart disease was 65 percent higher, stroke risk was more than doubled, and all-cause mortality was increased by 34 percent."   Sobering odds! The article goes on to say: "Negative emotional states and psychiatric symptoms can be related to adverse medical outcomes," said Smoller, who's also assistant vice chairman of the department of psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital. Panic attacks may be having a direct effect on cardiovascular health -- anxiety, panic and other negative emotional states have been related to changes in heart rhythm and changes in cardiac blood flow in previous studies. It may be that stress hormones and other components of the 'fight-or-flight' reactions that accompany panic directly impact the cardiovascular system."   A user named jmatt73 had an interesting experience. He is young like you and has had anxiety for years as well and now is dealing with atrial fibrillation. While his experience is different from yours, you might think of questions to ask your doctor after reading jmatt73's experiences.   Hope you find something useful here. Please stay in touch and let us know how you are doing!Vicki M
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