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Recent studies reveal that generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is caused by an inflammation of the immune system. It is said to be associated with an imbalance of substances brought about by the body's inflammatory and anti-inflammatory reactions.

Generalized anxiety disorder, which is commonly known as GAD, affects more than seven million adults in the United States. It was mentioned that the mental health condition is strongly linked to inflammation and unbalanced immune system.

GAD was previously tagged as a mental health disorder, but a recent study was able to link the condition to a physiological defect. The researchers, who published their study in "Brain, Behavior, and Immunity" stated that people suffering from GAD are having issues with their immune system.

It was mentioned that patients suffering from general anxiety disorder have an excess amount of cytokines on their system. It was then added that the cytokines were secreted by the immune system which is responsible for promoting inflammatory and anti-inflammatory reaction as per PubMed.

Brain ImmuneTrends mentioned that people with GAD have high levels of IFN-y and TNF-a and a low ratio of IL-10. IFN-y is said to be responsible for the activation of the body's immune system against pathogens. TNF-a, on the other hand, causes the body to fight acute disease.

Lastly, the IL-10 limits the body's remaining immune response. The imbalance of the body's immune system, then causes the person to feel anxious, thus they suffer from general anxiety disorder.

"Case-control logistic regression analyses revealed significant differences in serum levels of IL-10, TNF-α, and IFN-γ between GAD and control groups after adjusting for age, gender, body mass index, smoking and alcohol consumption: these group differences were independent of the presence or degree of depression," the study revealed. "Comparison of pro-inflammatory to anti-inflammatory cytokine ratios indicated that there were significantly higher ratios of TNF-α/IL10, TNF-α/IL4, IFN-γ/IL10, and IFN-γ/IL4 in the GAD group compared to the control group."