View clinical trials related to Panic Disorder.
Filter by:This study will examine brain and noradrenaline function in panic disorder. Noradrenaline is a brain chemical that is involved in the regulation of emotion, anxiety, sleep, stress hormones such as cortisol, and other body functions that are disturbed in panic disorder. Healthy normal volunteers and patients with panic disorder between 18 and 60 years of age may be eligible for this study. Candidates are screened with psychiatric and medical histories, a physical examination, blood and urine tests, and an electrocardiogram. Participants undergo the following tests and procedures: - Blood draw to obtain DNA for genetic studies of panic disorder - particularly of a gene that helps control noradrenaline activity - and to grow cell lines that can be frozen and used for future research on the disorder. - Magnetic resonance imaging: MRI uses a magnetic field and radio waves to produce images of body tissues and organs. For this procedure, the subject lies on a table that is moved into the scanner (a narrow cylinder), and wears earplugs to muffle loud knocking and thumping sounds that occur during the scanning process. The procedure lasts about 60 minutes, during which the patient is asked to lie still for 10 to 15 minutes at a time. - Yohimbine injection with PET scanning: Catheters (plastic tubes) are placed in two veins, one to administer yohimbine, a drug that increases noradrenaline activity in the body for about 60 minutes, and one to draw blood samples. Yohimbine often causes temporary trembling, goosebumps, and clammy palms, and may cause emotions such as elation, anxiety, panic attacks, or depression. During yohimbine administration, subjects undergo positron emission tomography (PET) scanning. PET uses small amounts of a radioactive chemical called [fluoro-18]-fluorodeoxyglucose that "labels" active areas of the brain, showing patterns of glucose (sugar) metabolism. For the procedure, the subject lies on the scanner bed, with a special mask fitted to his or her head and attached to the bed to help keep the head still. A brief "transmission" scan is done just before the radioactive tracer is injected in order to calibrate the scanner. After the tracer is injected through the catheter, pictures are taken for about an hour, while the subject lies still on the scanner bed. - Saline injection with PET scanning: The procedure is the same as that described above, except a saline solution is administered as placebo instead of yohimbine.
The purpose of this study is to determine if primary care patients with panic and/or generalized anxiety disorder can benefit from a telephone-based collaborative care intervention.
The importance of the proposed research project derives from a steady accumulation of research findings on the relationship between respiration and anxiety. The relationship between panic disorder and abnormalities in respiration has been recognized for more than 10 years. Increased sensitivity to CO2 exposure in panic disorder represents the most consistent finding supporting this relationship. The current proposal follows naturally from three sets of recent research findings in the area of panic disorder. First, our group has recently shown that children with anxiety disorders, like adults with panic disorder, exhibit increased sensitivity to CO2. Second, other researchers have shown that psychiatrically healthy relatives of patients with panic disorder also exhibit increased sensitvity to CO2. Finally, our group has also recently shown that children of adults with panic disorder exhibit high rates of anxiety disorders, particularly separation anxiety disorder, the childhood anxiety disorder which exhibits the highest degree of CO2 sensitivity. These three findings suggest that children of parents with panic disorder may exhibit a latent vulnerability to panic disorder, manifested as increased sensitivity to CO2. A secondary feature of the proposed research project derives from a steady accumulation of research findings in basic science literature outlining the parts of the brain that mediate fear and anxiety in animals. It may be possible to use insights from research on the brain basis of fear in animals to develop methods for assessing the brain basis of fear in humans. Moreover, work in animals notes changes in brain systems that mediate fear and anxiety across development. If development. If developmentally sensitive methods could be used to study fear in children, it may also be possible to greatly enhance our understanding of the manner in which the relationship between brain function and fear changes as children age. If similarities could be demonstrated across animals and humans in these areas, new insights on potential treatments for anxiety could be more readily transferred from the laboratory to the clinic. A second goal of the current proposal is to refine two neuropsychological probes that are thought to assess functional aspects of brain systems implicated in fear and anxiety across various species, from rodents to humans.
This study is designed to observe the effects of a panic attack in patients with panic disorders and to demonstrate the involvement of Substance P in panic disorder, and thereby, further our understanding of its role in this illness. We will measure levels of Substance P in the brain by obtaining pictures of the brain using PET and MRI....
This study will try to identify genes that increase the risk of developing panic disorder-an anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent unexpected panic attacks-and that contribute to the abnormalities associated with it. It will compare reactions in patients with panic disorder and in normal volunteers to caffeine, a compound that can induce anxiety, and to placebo, an inactive substance. Caffeine is believed to induce anxiety by blocking proteins called adenosine receptors on the surface of nerve cells in the brain. One study found that people with a specific adenosine receptor gene called 1976T/T had greater anxiety in response to caffeine challenge than did people with other adenosine receptor gene groups. There is also evidence that people with the 1976T/T genotype are more vulnerable to having panic disorder. Normal volunteers and patients with panic disorder (with or without agoraphobia) who are between 18 and 60 years of age may be eligible for this study. Candidates are screened with physical and psychiatric examinations, a diagnostic interview, mood and anxiety ratings, an electrocardiogram, and blood and urine tests, including genetic studies. Participants have two caffeine/placebo challenge sessions at least 3 days apart. Each session lasts about 4 hours. For at least 1 week before each session, subjects follow a diet excluding foods with caffeine and refrain from drinking alcoholic beverages for at least 48 hours before the procedure. The morning of the session, following an overnight fast, subjects swallow either a placebo capsule or a caffeine capsule that is equivalent to about 5 cups of coffee. During the session, subjects take a battery of neuropsychological tests to document changes in cognitive and emotional functioning, including attention, memory, and motor performance. In addition, heart rate and blood pressure are measured 15 minutes before and 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180 minutes after the caffeine or placebo dose. At the end of the study, patients with panic disorder are eligible to receive routine clinical treatment for up to 3 months and may participate in planning for long-term treatment under the care of their local health care provider.
This study will develop an interactive computer-based version of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and compare its effectiveness to book-based CBT for the treatment of panic disorder.
This 6-month study, with a 3-month follow up period, will compare the effectiveness of new and traditional psychotherapies for depression with panic or anxiety symptoms.
The primary objective is to determine the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of venlafaxine extended release (ER) capsules in the treatment of outpatients with panic disorder (PD) in comparison to those of placebo.
The primary objective of this study is to determine the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of a flexible dose of venlafaxine extended-release (ER) capsules administered for 10 weeks in the treatment of adult outpatients with panic disorder (PD) in a placebo-controlled phase III study.
The purpose of this study is to examine the safety and effectiveness of the drug combination paroxetine and clonazepam in treating people with panic disorder (PD) and major depression. The main goal in treating people with PD is to rapidly reduce symptom severity and improve functioning. While numerous drug therapies have been used to treat PD, these treatments are limited by variable response rates and suboptimal side effect profiles. Evidence suggests that clonazepam given with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) can facilitate a rapid reduction in PD symptoms. However, it is unclear whether comorbid depression influences treatment response to the clonazepam and SSRI regimen. This study will examine whether combined treatment with clonazepam and the SSRI paroxetine will accelerate clinical response in participants with PD and comorbid depression. This study will also examine whether the benefits of treatment will be sustained until the end of the study despite tapering of clonazepam at the midpoint of the study. Participants in this study will be screened with medical and psychiatric interviews, a physical examination, electrocardiogram (ECG), and blood tests. Participants will then be randomly assigned to receive either paroxetine plus clonazepam or paroxetine plus placebo (an inactive pill) for 12 weeks. Participants will have weekly clinic visits during which symptoms and drug side effects will be checked and an interview to evaluate panic disorder and depression symptoms will be conducted.