Anxiety (1)

Anxiety is the body's natural response to stress. It's a feeling of fear or apprehension about what's to come.

Anxiety attack symptoms include:

- Excessive worry or fear

- Palpitations

- Feeling nervous, trembling

- Shortness of breath

- Sense of choking

- Numbness or tingling in the limbs or entire body

- Chills or sweating

- Dizziness, nausea

- Chest pain

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that acts as a messenger to transmit signals within the brain.

Low serotonin levels are well-recognized by the medical community as a primary cause of panic attacks, depression and other signs of anxiety.

Women are much more likely to suffer from serotonin deficiency than men.

Low serotonin levels in women likely are the result of their more sensitive and intense responses to stress as well as their higher rates of thyroid problems.

There is also some evidence that female hormones interact with serotonin to cause anxiety symptoms to occur or worsen during the premenstrual time, during the postpartum period, and around the time of menopause.

Vitamin B6 is an important component required for the body to make serotonin. Low vitamin B6 levels ultimately lead to low serotonin.

Like vitamin B6, iron is a necessary part of making serotonin. Building iron levels helps to avoid a serotonin deficiency.

Reference:

Mikawa, Y. (2013). Low serum concentrations of vitamin B6 and iron are related to panic attack and hyperventilation attack.