how come it affects my heart?

Hello, I'm a 18 year old boy, who had been hospitalised at the
beginning of the year, because of palpitations and extreme pain
in the chest. I had a bike test, 6 ECG's, blood test, scanner test, echo test, holter test and even had a telemetry device on
for one night. I feel silly, because everything showed out that
nothing was wrong. Only many PVC's (5 every minute). But then,
a night at the clinic, I had again that attack (when that telemetry device was on!) but the cardiologist said they hadn't
seen something abnormal or dangerous. So they said it was stress.
I have panic attacks. Ok, so I went to a psych. to talk about it,
because I had " cardiofobia". All fine, but what I really like
to know is :

1)My dad has it, and his mum had this panic attacks too, is this
a thing that is passed on to others by the chromosomes?

2)Before the first attack, I never felt nervous, I never thought
of dying, heart problems, etc. After this first attack, it's like
my whole body changed, I have many muscle spasms, I'm very nervous, and it also affects my heart. I have palpitations, I can
almost always feel my heart beat, when I get excited by something
(like the start of an F1-race, it's like it's going to burst out
of my chest). How came this affects my heart, and where does this
come from?

I hope it wasn't to much, but I never have been sick before, and
this is a huge thing to deal with, and I have to get some answers,I'm all confused. thx

[CCF CARDIO MD - DLB]

Dear Frederik

1. While the exact genetics of panic disorder have not been worked out, there is almost certainly a hereditary component to it.
2. It sounds like your heart has been thoroughly evaluated and it has been determined that the heart is not causing your symptoms. Panic does tend to make the heart race quickly; this is probably what you are experiencing.

I hope this has been useful. I wish you the best of luck. Feel free to write back.

Information provided here is for general purposes only. Specific questions should be addressed to your own doctor. If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.