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By Alan Mozes
NEW YORK, Mar 12 (Reuters Health) - Panic attacks are not only disturbing psychologically, they may also restrict blood flow to the heart and result in chest pain in patients who have heart disease, researchers reported on Saturday at the American Psychosomatic Society meeting in Monterey, California.
"If you have panic attacks and you have coronary artery disease it could be a risky business down the road," lead study author and psychologist Dr. Richard Fleet told Reuters Health in a telephone interview.
Fleet and his colleagues at the Montreal Heart Institute in Canada had over 50 heart disease patients inhale a mixture of carbon dioxide and oxygen that is known to artificially induce panic attacks--primarily among those who already have a history of panic disorder. Panic disorder manifests as sudden dizziness, chest pain, palpitations and shortness of breath that result from intense feelings of fear or anxiety. Half of the study participants had a history of panic disorder, while half did not.
Among the patients with panic disorder, 100% experienced a panic attack upon inhaling--compared with only 15% of the patients without the disorder.
Using a sophisticated nuclear imaging technique called SPECT, the researchers determined that 80% of the panic disorder patients experienced myocardial ischemia--reduced blood flow to the heart--upon onset of the panic attack. They found that only about 40% of those patients without the disorder who had the attack experienced such an effect on the heart.
The researchers note that panic disorder is treatable with a combination of psychotherapy and medication.
Fleet told Reuters Health that the findings may have implications for thousands of people who experience stress-induced panic attacks.
"Up to 5% of people in the general population have panic disorder and about one quarter of people have panic attacks from time to time without necessarily meeting the criteria for panic disorder," he said. "They have spontaneous attacks. And if you have the double diseases of panic disorder and coronary artery disease, then it's a cause for concern," he added.
"I would suggest that these patients continue to be followed closely and also receive treatment for their panic disorders," he emphasized. "Cognitive behavior treatment and medication is very effective in helping 80% of patients with panic disorder. If you treat it, patients will get better and maybe it will relieve the risk of complications."
The study was funded by a grant from the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline.
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