Genetic Disorder Links Panic and Bladder Problems

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040312/hl_nm/panic_bladd

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EW YORK (Reuters Health) - The seemingly unrelated conditions of panic

disorder and the bladder disorder interstitial cystitis may be components of

a hitherto unidentified genetic syndrome, new findings indicate. ... study

revealed that panic disorder was associated with other disorders,

particularly bladder and thyroid problems, weakness in the mitral valve of

the heart, and headache. ... Also, first-degree relatives of patients with

interstitial cystitis were approximately three times as likely to have

interstitial cystitis and thyroid problems and had twice the risk of panic

disorder compared with first-degree relatives of the other subjects. The

authors suggest that abnormalities in the central nervous system may be the

underlying cause of all these disorders, and that medication used to treat

panic disorder may also benefit people with interstitial cystitis