BUT by far the most interesting studies which help serve to underpin our 3 mind assertions I have seen to date are the Framingham Heart Study studies mentioned above.

Could a Fear of Flying come from an undiagnosed heart condition?

Bonnie was 48 when she first noticed her heart starting to race and an odd pounding sensation in her chest that would sometimes keep her awake at night.
In the months to follow, Bonnie became increasingly anxious over everyday issues and also developed irritable bowel syndrome and other strange aches and pains.

"I saw every '-ologist' in the book," says Bonnie, "a gastroenterologist, a cardiologist and a neurologist, as well as a psychiatrist. All my tests came back negative and most doctors just kept telling me to stop worrying."

An ultrasound finally revealed she had a prolapsed valve, a condition known as Mitral Valve Prolapse (MVP).
The Framingham Heart Study - a 50-year study of the distribution and determinants of disease in the population of Framingham, Massachusetts, USA - had a revolutionary effect on the identification of heart and other disease, suggesting up to 18 per cent of people have this mild congenital heart defect. But Professor David Celermajer, cardiologist at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, says more recent studies suggest it's two to three per cent. Whichever figure, MVP is still the world's most common, and misunderstood, heart abnormality.

"Imagine that the mitral valve is a door between two chambers of the heart. It only opens in one direction in order to let blood flow between one chamber and the other and is not supposed to swing back or let the blood re-enter the first chamber. But if the valve has fallen or slipped out of place, the door doesn't close snugly and it does.
In terms of physical signs, sometimes the presence of congenital abnormalities such as long arms, flat feet, double joints and mild scoliosis (curvature of the spine) can be telltale signs of co-existing MVP."