Updated January, 2006
The following conditions can affect either men or women, but they are far more predominant in women. Furthermore, these conditions are often thought of by doctors as "crazy women syndromes," and women who suffer from them are often written off as being "anxious." The doctor would be anxious, too, if he had symptoms like these. Anxiety may result from these conditions, but it is not the underlying cause. Women may need to educate their doctors on these conditions, so here's the information you need:
Dysautonomia- The dysautonomias are a family of disorders that can produce symptoms involving almost any organ system in the body. Cardiac symptoms include chest pain, palpitations, dizziness and syncope (fainting). Understanding the dysautonomias and their potential treatments can go a long way toward alleviating the symptoms.
Inappropriate sinus tachycardia (IST)- IST is most likely a form of dysautonomia characterized by an inappropriately high heart rate and palpitations.
Mitral valve prolapse (MVP)- MVP is diagnosed far too often, and is blamed for many things it does not cause. While rarely MVP can cause significant cardiac valve dysfunction, most of the time it is merely an innocent bystander that is blamed for a host of symptoms that are almost certainly due to dysautonomia.
