Hi everyone, This is my first post here. I've been doing a lot of reading but just never posted. I just found out about this syndrome this summer. My younger sister was diagnosed with syncope earlier this year so I began to read. I've suffered with tachycardia since 1977. I was diagnosed with panic disorder in January of 91 but to me it really never fit the illness. I would have these spells where my heart rate would increase to 150 to 170 bpm and my chest would feel like it was going to blow up any minute. I felt like I was dieing and we would head for the hospitals. I would end up in there for a week with them doing every test you could imagine and of course they never would find a thing wrong with me. That all started in 1977. in January of 1991 I went on total disability from my illness. In 1996 I had my first heart attack. I've had 5 heart attacks at this point. I have 17 stints and have had quadruple bypass. I now know what I've been struggling with all these years. All I had to do is read the first article on the main page of this site and bingo, that was me to a T. Well I think I'm getting a little long winded but to answer your question I'm not so sure that it doesn't effect the heart.......Long term. I'm 51yrs old now and this all started when I was 24yrs old. I thank all of you for listening, Jack