Women Suffers of Panic Attacks More Likely to Have a Heart Attack

Filed in archive Heart and Stroke on October 1, 2007

Do you suffer from panic attacks? Merriam Webster dictionary defines panic attacks as 'feelings of terror that strike suddenly and repeatedly with no warning'. Other symptoms of a panic attack include sweating, chest pain, palpitations (irregular heartbeats) and a feeling of choking, which may make the person feel like he or she is having a heart attack or "going crazy." And if you're one of 2.4 millions Americans who suffer from this disorder, the following information is for you.

According to a study published in Monday's Archives of General Psychiatry, women who have had one full-blown panic attack in the last six months were three times more likely to suffer from a heart attack or stroke.

The rapid pulse and shortness of breath of a panic attack can feel like a heart attack, and it may signal heart trouble down the road, a study of more than 3,000 older women suggests.

Women who reported at least one full-blown panic attack during a six-month period were three times more likely to have a heart attack or stroke over the next five years than women who didn't report a panic attack.

The researchers took into account other risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, inactivity and depression and still found that panic attacks raised risk.

The findings add panic attacks to a list of mental health issues - depression, fear, hostility and anxiety - already linked in previous research to heart problems, said study co-author Dr. Jordan Smoller of Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital.

"Postmenopausal women who are experiencing panic attacks may be a subgroup with elevated risk," Smoller said. "Monitoring them and reducing their cardiovascular risk may be important."

The study, published in Monday's Archives of General Psychiatry, wasn't designed to explain the link, Smoller said. He speculated that a panic attack may trigger heart rhythm problems or that stress hormones released during an attack may harm the heart.