ADAPT
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A novel targeted treatment for reducing anxiety in joint hypermobility: a proof of concept study
IRAS ID
248326
Contact name
Jessica A Eccles
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Sussex
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN17018615
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 4 months, 1 days
Research summary
Our body state influences the way we feel and react: strong emotion such as anxiety is made more intense by the feeling of our heart racing. The way in which people differ physically can affect how much their body reacts and how likely they are to experience anxiety symptoms. Some of these differences can be related to flexible 'hypermobile' joints. Hypermobility can affect up to a quarter of the population. More people who are hypermobile experience problems with anxiety or panic than you would expect by chance. Although the link between anxiety and hypermobility has been known for some time, to date no specific targeted treatments exist. The research team's previous work shows that some hypermobile people have heightened fight or flight nervous systems responses and seem particularly sensitive to changes in bodily sensations. The difference between symptoms and signs of these bodily changes predicts anxiety level and also explains how brain activity in a key emotion processing area is linked to anxiety.
Firstly, with experts in the field, the research team will refine a new non-drug therapy which aims to alter unpleasant feelings caused by the way we respond to changes in body such as fast heart beats. Secondly we will test whether the therapy works in practice and then thirdly use information from brain scans before and after treatment to predict why people respond to the treatment, in order to help doctors and patients to pick treatments based on good evidence in the future.
REC name
London - Bloomsbury Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/1920
Date of REC Opinion
4 Jan 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion