Allergy in panic disorder patients: a preliminary report(1).

In this study of panic disorder patients, 71.8% were found to have allergies. Compared to the nonallergic subjects, the allergic subjects had more full-blown situational panic attacks and significantly higher scores on 7 of the 14 symptoms in the Hamilton Anxiety Scale. More subjects in the allergic group had comorbid anxiety disorders, but only the number with specific phobias was significantly higher than for the nonallergic. These results are discussed in terms of our present theories of panic disorder.