Why the study?
Are sympathetic nervous and adrenal medullary functions elevated in patients with panic disorder compared to healthy controls at rest, during mental stress, and during panic attacks?
Population
13 patients with panic disorder as defined by the DSM-IV, and 14 healthy control subjects (n=27)
Comparison
Laboratory mental stress and observation during… vs Healthy control subjects at rest and during…
Design
Case-control
Authors
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Questions global sympathetic activation in panic disorder; leaves open significance of resting cardiac epinephrine spillover.
Are sympathetic nervous and adrenal medullary functions elevated in patients with panic disorder compared to healthy controls at rest, during mental stress, and during panic attacks?
Contrary to popular belief, the sympathetic nervous system is not globally activated during panic attacks, though cardiac epinephrine spillover is elevated at rest in panic disorder patients.
Wilkinson et al. (1998) studied this question.
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