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Various physical illnesses often accompany panic, anxiety disorders

Recent analysis shows that individuals with panic and/or anxiety disorders had a higher prevalence of various physical illnesses compared with the general population.

“The co-occurrence of mental and physical illnesses, particularly those with a paucity of physical signs, has long evoked curiosity. In many cases, these disorders remain medically unexplained or functional, such as fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, interstitial cystitis and chronic prostatitis,” study researcher Jeremy Coplan, MD, of the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, in New York City, and colleagues wrote.

Jeremy Coplan

Based on previous research, Coplan and colleagues hypothesized a spectrum syndrome comprising of a core anxiety disorder and four related domains of the most commonly occurring comorbidities, including joint laxity, pain disorders, immune disorders and mood disorders. They termed the spectrum disorder Anxiety-Laxity-Pain-Immune-Mood or ALPIM, syndrome.

To assess the validity of ALPIM syndrome, researchers administered the ALPIM Inventory Questionnaire to 76 individuals with at least one current anxiety disorder and one index disorder from the laxity, chronic pain and/or immune domains. Study participants had a mean age of 43.19 years.

Analysis showed individuals with a panic disorder had significantly higher prevalence of physical illness compared with the general population.

Specifically, 59.3% of the study cohort had joint laxity compared with approximately 10% to 15% of the general population.

Within the pain domain, 80.3% of the study cohort had fibromyalgia, compared with a prevalence of 2.1% to 5.7% among the general population. Irritable bowel syndrome occurred among 76.3% of study participants, compared with approximately 17% in the general population.

Regarding the immune domain, 71.1% of study participants had rhinitis, while the general population has a prevalence of approximately 20%. Approximately 33% of study participants had asthma, which occurs in an estimated 8.2% of the general population.

Hypothyroidism was observed in 39.5% of study participants, which is seen in approximately 4.6% of the general population.

“Our argument is that delineations in medicine can be arbitrary and that some disorders that are viewed as multiple disparate and independent conditions may best be viewed as a single spectrum disorder with a common genetic etiology,” Coplan said in a press release. “Patients deserve a more informed scientific understanding of spectrum disorders. The disorders that are part of the ALPIM syndrome may be better understood if viewed as a common entity.” – by Amanda Oldt

Disclosure: Coplan has received grant support from Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Corcept, GlaxoSmithKline, NIMH, NYSTEM and Pfizer, serves on advisory boards for Corcept and Pfizer, and has given talks for AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Forest, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Otsuka, Pfizer and Sunovion. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.