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Panic attacks tied to breathing

December 20, 2002

Panic disorder can be tied to disturbances in the regulation of breathing. A dissertation from the Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University in Sweden shows that the effect of serotonin preparations in attacks of panic anxiety might be due to their influence on breathing.

The dissertation shows that substances that lower the levels of serotonin in the brain in experimental animals bring about the same type of abnormality in respiratory patterns as documented in patients with attacks of panic disorder. It is hoped that these findings will lead to the development of new medicines to combat this serious disease.

Panic disorder is a chronic disease characterized by sudden attacks of intense anxiety. The disease affects 3-4 percent of the population. It often entails great suffering and severe reductions in the capacity to function socially.

Common symptoms during a panic attack are hyperventilation, shortness of breath, and a feeling of suffocation. Furthermore, it has previously been shown that panic attacks can be triggered by having the patient breathe air with somewhat elevated levels of carbon dioxide, and that patients evince an abnormal pattern of breathing. These observations indicate that panic anxiety might be tied to disturbances in the regulation of breathing.

It is known that panic anxiety is a hereditary disorder, but nothing is known about what genes are involved. The researchers’ hypothesis that the signal substance angiotensin may play a role was supported by the observation that a variant of an angiotensis-related gene seems to be more common in men with panic anxiety than in healthy controls.

Vetenskapsrådet (The Swedish Research Council)