Can Panic Attack Cause a heart attack?

According to recent studies, there is a strong link between panic attacks and heart attacks. With this respect, however, is still open for further studies.

Smoller and the colleagues (2007) decided to see if the panic attacks are associated with an increased risk of heart attack or stroke in elderly women.

They examined data from 10 clinical centers in the center of 40 women’s health initiative. The study examined a total of 3369 postmenopausal women generally healthy (age 51-83 years) were recorded in 1997 and 2000 in Migraine Study and myocardial ischemia that completed a questionnaire about occurrence of panic attacks in the previous 6 months. Then looked at cardiovascular events, including those that led to the death.

Researchers have identified a genuine fear of a sudden the panic attacks, anxiety, or very unpleasant, with four or more DSM symptoms of panic attacks. A total of 330 patients reported verification real panic attacks in the 6 months prior to the study and 273 had limited experience symptoms of panic attacks (anxiety, panic attacks, plus 1-3 symptoms).

Scientists determine the potential risk for coronary artery disease after adjustment for all risk factors, including smoking, hypertension, body mass index, history of depression, and physical activity. The risk of subsequent heart disease was more than 4 times greater, and 3 times the amount of the race, the women who had experienced true panic attacks than those without history of panic, but not women, who were not true panic attacks, but the symptoms of anxiety. Depression is not associated with cardiovascular events after adjustment for panic attacks.

Researchers have found that panic attacks are relatively common in postmenopausal women. They seem to be an independent risk factor for morbidity and cardiovascular mortality in older women. This is not to say, panic attacks can lead to a heart attack (as it might be that women with pre-existing heart conditions are genetic or pre-panic symptoms), but that does not mean that if a woman is a complete coup history of panic attacks, which have a higher risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. These women should be more closely monitored by doctors for their health problems.

Reference from Smoller JW et al.