According to Science Daily, a medical research team recently released the results of a study that may have found the reason that anxiety sufferers appear to be at higher risk for heart disease. According to those results, people who suffer from panic disorder or severe phobias actually had a higher tendency towards blood clotting. This in turn could eventually lead to heart disease, heart attack or thrombosis (blood clot).

No need to panic, however. The research showed that clotting tendencies, while elevated, were still within normal limits. It appears that other factors, such as smoking, obesity or lack of exercise must also be present in order for dangerous consequences to develop. Further research is also needed to determine if the results are significant. In the meantime, patients who received treatment for their anxiety disorders showed that their clotting factors returned to normal. This is just another of the many reasons to seek treatment for your phobia.