Unique Treatment Center Takes the Mystery Out of Rare Heart Ailment

When doctors wanted Lyn Frederickson to “whip into shape” female patients with “imagined illnesses,” the cardiovascular nurse instead decided to investigate the health complaints of the women.

Frederickson’s diligence paid off, and today she directs the nation’s first and only Mitral Valve Prolapse Center, in Birmingham, Ala.

Mitral valve prolapse, or MVP, is a heart condition that afflicts up to 10% of the population. But two-thirds of the victims are healthy women, usually between the ages of 17 and 39, who complain of a variety of symptoms.

Take Jane, for example. Frederickson said the “attractive redhead in her 50s with a twinkle in her eye and a lovely smile” suffered fatigue, chest pains and other illnesses that forced her to cut back on numerous community activities.

‘Panic Attacks’

Or, the male disc jockey who could barely work because he would have “panic attacks” when he sat in his booth. Anxiety attacks also struck another patient while grocery shopping, impelling her to run out of the store.

“It is not a life-threatening condition, but I do refer to it as a life-style threatening condition because it can be so unpleasant hat (sufferers) avoid the things in life they really enjoy,” said Frederickson, who is on a tour to promote her book about MVP.

“It seems to cross every socioeconomic group. About one-third of the patients are men. I think sometimes when men have it, it can be even worse because our culture doesn’t allow them vague sort of symptoms that we allow women.”

During the Civil War, men with MVP were often described as having a “soldier’s heart,” said Frederickson, explaining that the condition is considered hereditary and “triggered by a major life event or stress.”

MVP sufferers have a slight variation in the shape or structure of the mitral valve of the heart, one of a number of valves that control blood flow among the four chambers. When the one-way valve that lies between the left filling chamber and left pumping chamber does not close fully, it sometimes causes a small amount of blood to leak back into the filling chamber.

Nervous System Imbalance

Along with this minor structural problem often comes--for unknown reasons--an imbalance of the autonomic nervous system, which regulates such involuntary functions as breathing and digestion.

MVP symptoms usually come in combinations, with fatigue being a key trait. There can be chest pains, irregular heart beat, migraine headache, anxiety, depression, aches in the neck, back, arm or leg, bowel trouble or memory problems.

Frederickson said panic attacks afflict about 60% of the patients she treats.

“The word panic is really sort of a loaded word,” Frederickson said. “It implies neurosis, and that’s not the case. It’s a biochemical storm that occurs in the brain . . . that sudden rush of adrenaline. They can experience it up to seven times a day for about 30 minutes. It’s just terrifying. They think they’re dying, or worse, crazy.”

Research also has found that about one-third of women with MVP have undergone hysterectomies and 60% report severe problems with premenstrual syndrome.

Frederickson said the MVP center at Baptist Medical Center Montclair is the first and only center to offer comprehensive treatment of the condition. The center opened in April of 1987 and has treated about 3,000 patients from 25 states.

The patients undergo a battery of tests to determine the extent of the problem. They are put on “sensible diets that get rid of all caffeine and sugar.” Specific medication also is recommended, as well as “low resistance, repetitive” exercises.

“We believe that once we stabilize that roller coaster, get it back in balance, get them on the right diet and exercise program, (the symptoms) tend to stabilize and we can take them off medication,” and they can again use sugar and caffeine in moderation.

The center offers a 24-hour telephone line for people suffering from MVP-related problems, public forums and newsletters.