Search results for "panic"

Comparison of Cortisol Stress Response in Patients with Panic Disorder, Cannabis-Induced Panic Disorder, and Healthy Controls

2018

<b><i>Background/Aims:</i></b> Little research effort has so far been dedicated to the analysis of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis of aetiologically differing subgroups of patients with panic disorder (PD). The current study aimed at a deeper understanding of the cortisol stress response in cannabis-induced PD (CIPD) patients. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Matched groups of 7 PD patients (mean age ± SD: 32.95 ± 9.04 years), 7 CIPD patients (31.94 ± 8.40 years), and 7 healthy controls (HC) (31.13 ± 8.57 years) were included in the study. The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was used for stress induction. Salivary cortisol samples were collected…

Stress-induced pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine concentrations in panic disorder patients

2018

Abstract Background An attenuated responsivity of the hypothalamus–hypophysis-adrenal (HPA) axis upon challenge and an increased risk for cardiac events are relatively consistent findings in panic disorder (PD) patients. Due to cytokine-HPA interactions, an altered HPA-axis responsivity may be accompanied by altered cytokine concentrations. Immunological reactions under stress might be considered the missing link for explaining an increased cardiac risk. This study analyzed stress-induced cytokine levels in PD patients. Methods A total of n = 32 PD patients and n = 32 healthy control individuals performed the Trier Social Test (TSST). Blood sample collection accompanied the TSST for the col…

Drug treatment of panic disorder: early response to treatment as a predictor of final outcome

1990

One of the core problems in clinical research is the detection of early changes in target symptoms that predict future therapeutic outcome. To analyze potential predictors of outcome, data of a multicenter study on patients with panic disorder were used. A total of 1010 patients were randomly allocated either to alprazolam, imipramine or placebo treatment. Early improvement in the number of spontaneous panic attacks within the first week of treatment predicted outcome exclusively in the alprazolam group. In contrast, placebo responders and nonresponders were differentiated by early changes in anticipatory anxiety intensity. For tricyclic antidepressants such as imipramine an evaluation peri…

Subtyping panic disorder by major depression and avoidance behaviour and the response to active treatment

1991

In order to establish the clinical validity of currently used ways of subtyping panic disorder the predictive power of associated current avoidance behaviour and (secondary) major depression for the response to active treatment (alprazolam, imipramine) was tested. The analysis was based on the data from the Cross-National-Collaborative-Panic-Study. Limited support for validity evidenced by predicting drug response was found for grading panic disorder by the severity of avoidance behaviour; patients with panic attacks and agoraphobia are more responsive to imipramine (compared with alprazolam) when using the reduction of the total number of panic attacks (or of spontaneous panic attacks) as …

Headache, anxiety and depressive disorders: the HADAS study.

2010

The objective of this paper was to assess prevalence and characteristics of anxiety and depression in migraine without aura and tension-type headache, either isolated or in combination. Although the association between headache and psychiatric disorders is undisputed, patients with migraine and/or tension-type headache have been frequently investigated in different settings and using different tests, which prevents meaningful comparisons. Psychiatric comorbidity was tested through structured interview and the MINI inventory in 158 adults with migraine without aura and in 216 persons with tension-type headache or migraine plus tension-type headache. 49 patients reported psychiatric disorders…

The Multidimensional Inventory of Hypochondriacal Traits

2014

Severe health anxiety constitutes a disabling and costly clinical condition. The Multidimensional Inventory of Hypochondriacal Traits (MIHT) represents an innovative instrument that was developed according to cognitive-behavioral, cognitive-perceptual, interpersonal, and trait models of hypochondriasis. We aimed at evaluating the psychometric properties of the MIHT in a sample of patients with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) diagnosis of hypochondriasis. Using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the postulated four-factor structure of the MIHT was found in a first CFA in patients with hypochondriasis ( n = 178) and in a second CFA based on a mixed sample…

Avoidance behaviour: A predictor of the efficacy of pharmacotherapy in panic disorder?

1991

The impact of the avoidance behaviour on the psychopharmacological treatment of panic disorder was explored in the Cross National Collaborative Panic Study (n = 1134 patients); in this double blind randomized trial alprazolam, imipramine and placebo were compared during an 8-week treatment period. Patients with extensive avoidance behaviour (agoraphobia) had the most profit from the active drugs. Counter expectancy these specific drug effects were most pronounced in avoidance behaviour. Active drugs (in particular imipramine) were especially more effective than placebo if the patients presented with associated avoidance behaviour. The results suggest that agoraphobia defines more a particul…

Chronology of panic and avoidance, age of onset in panic disorder, and prediction of treatment response. A report from the Cross-National Collaborati…

1991

The relevance of the chronology between panic disorder and avoidance behavior and of an early, medium or late onset of panic disorder was tested. Groups from the sample of the cross-national collaborative panic study (CNCPS) were compared for differences in basic characteristics and for the ability to predict treatment response. Patients who developed avoidance behavior before the full syndrome of panic disorder had less often a full agoraphobia but were not different in their response to treatment. Patients with an early onset of panic disorder suffered more often from agoraphobia. The treatment response was similar in the groups with early, medium or late onset of panic disorder. Neither …

Alcoholism and panic disorder: co-occurrence and co-transmission in families

1993

The co-occurrence of alcoholism and anxiety disorders in epidemiological and clinical samples is well established. Self-medication of anxiety disorder probands with the anxiolytic substance alcohol might be one reason for this association. Common susceptibility factors of both disorders might be alternative explanations. Controlled family studies recruiting probands with panic disorder and alcoholism are powerful tools to answer this question. A family study of this kind, however, is not available. The present study investigated 113 families of probands with either panic disorder or alcoholism or both (but without affective or psychotic disorders) and 80 families of healthy controls in orde…

The Personality Sphere in Patients with Panic Attacks

1988