POTS is a form of dysautonomia that negatively affects the flow of blood through the body, thereby causing dizziness when standing. Technically, someone has POTS if their heart rate increases by 30 beats per minute or if their heart rate is greater than 120 beats per minute within 10 minutes of standing up.
The autonomic nervous system regulates involuntary actions that allow the body to function. When we stand, for example, the body needs to accommodate an entire set of processes to allow this. Upon standing, as a result of gravity, a significant amount of blood automatically falls to the lower body. Autonomic reflexes ensure that this blood gets distributed back to the upper body by constricting blood vessels and increasing heart rate.
With Pots this automatic process is disturbed. When standing the blood falls down to the lower body and a shortage of bloodvolume arise in the brain. This leads to an increase in heart rate and light-headedness on standing, as well as exercise intolerance, fatigue, and a multitude of other symptoms. POTS may be so severe that even normal everyday activities usually taken for granted such as bathing or walking may be severely limited.
Symptoms
Pots is most commonly known for dizziness upon
standing. In some cases, patients actually faint when trying to stand,
earning POTS the nickname of “the fainting disease”. However, dizziness
and fainting are just a few of the many often debilitating symptoms POTS
patients battle on a daily basis. Additional symptoms include:
- Headaches
- Nausea
- Abdominal pain
- Chronic Pain (General)
- Chest Pains
- Heart Palpitations
- Fatigue
- Shortness of Breath
- Insomnia
- Brain Fog
- Sweating Abnormalities
- Weakness
- Bladder Dysfunction
- Tremors
What causes Pots?
Pots is a syndrome, that means it is not a disease on its own. It is the result of an underlying disease or health disorder. For example by Diabetes, Reumatoid Arthritis, MS or Parkinson disease. There is however also a link with hypermobility.
About 60-70% of patients with Pots also have Hypermobility syndrome or Ehlers Danlos. Ehlers Danlos is the more severe version of hypermobility syndrome. It involves the presence of joint hypermobility as well as other musculoskeletal and extra-articular connective tissue difficulties. Both Hypermobility syndrome and Ehlers Danlos have problems with the makeup of collagen in the body.
Hypermobility in the neck is seen as one of the possible causes of Pots. Another hypothesis is abnormal collagen tissue in blood vessels causing problems with constricting these vessels.
Source: https://myheart.net/pots-syndrome/
No comments:
Post a Comment