Due to severe chronic anxiety, my weight is reduced a lot. My bmi is 17.3 so obviously I'm underweight. Is it harmful for health. Can it cause heart problem and cancer? If you tell me definitely I will get rid of it. Unnecessarily my mind forces me to reduce my weight still for prevention of heart attack by anxiety and stress and confusion since hearing the news that my Friend's father died of heart attack a few weeks ago. And I follow like a fool what my mind says. Please tell me the details in a clear manner. Is chronic anxiety harmful for health?

Dr. Saranya DevanathanPsychiatrist46yrs exp

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Dear You seem to be having disease phobia in addition to chronic anxiety. You need talk therapy in addition to sertraline and clonazepam. You friend's father had other factors causing heart attack, like age, may be smoking, diabetes or blood pressure or lack of exercise or family history of heart attacks. I don't know whether you have any of them except chronic anxiety Cutting down on eating and loss of weight is not the only method to prevent heart attack. You need healthy food and a BMI of at least 23-24. Please come online for audio or video consultation. 

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