http://goo.gl/qNNOEN
The researchers found a high correlation between panic disorder, bipolar disorder, and physical illness, with significantly higher prevalence of certain physical illnesses among patients with panic disorder when compared to the general population.
"Panic disorder itself may be a predictor for a number of physical conditions previously considered unrelated to mental conditions, and for which there may be no or few biological markers," explains Dr. Coplan.
In the study, published in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, the researchers proposed the existence of a spectrum syndrome comprising a core anxiety disorder and four related domains, for which they have coined the term ALPIM:
- A = Anxiety disorder (mostly panic disorder);
- L = Ligamentous laxity (joint hypermobility syndrome, scoliosis, double-jointedness, mitral valve prolapse, easy bruising);
- P = Pain (fibromyalgia, migraine and chronic daily headache, irritable bowel syndrome, prostatitis/cystitis);
- I = Immune disorders (hypothyroidism, asthma, nasal allergies, chronic fatigue syndrome); and
- M = Mood disorders (major depression, Bipolar II and Bipolar III disorder, tachyphylaxis. Two thirds of patients in the study with mood disorder had diagnosable bipolar disorder and most of those patients had lost response to antidepressants).
Dr. Coplan notes that the proposal of ALPIM as a syndrome is not entirely new, in that it contains significant elements of previously described spectrum disorders. ALPIM's primary contribution is to add novel elements and groupings, and to shed light on how these groupings overlap.