A Closer Look at POTS
The female-biased disorder that affects stamina, heart rate, and blood pressure.
Written by Veronica Zora Kirin (founder).
POTS (Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) affects 1-3M people in the United States, with 80% of those affected being women. It is characterized by an increased heart rate when one transitions from sitting/laying to standing and often results in light-headedness, dizziness, and fainting. From John Hopkins Medicine:
Orthostatic hypotension is a form of low blood pressure: 20mm Hg drop in systolic or a 10mm Hg drop in diastolic blood pressure in the first three minutes of standing upright.
Due to irregular blood pressure, one with POTS may experience difficulty with exercise and everyday activities due to fainting, dizziness, and disorientation.
In 2023, the NIH granted $5.4M in funding toward POTS research. This marked a $1M increase over 2022, likely driven by the concern that COVID-19 may trigger POTS. We’re happy to see the increase in funding and awareness on social media.
Most people with POTS are women between the ages of 13 and 50.
Some people have a family history of POTS, but most don't; some people report POTS began after an illness or stressor, others report that it began gradually.
If you have POTS, you may also experience recurrent episodes of fainting, typically without any trigger besides standing up.
Sometimes, people who have POTS are not able to tolerate sports or exercise and may feel light-headed and dizzy in response to mild or moderate physical activity. This may be described as exercise intolerance.
People with POTS are often co-diagnosed with other conditions such as chronic fatigue syndrome, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, fibromyalgia, migraines, and other autoimmune and/or bowel conditions.
POTS is considered a type of dysautonomia, which is diminished regulation of the autonomic nervous system. There are several other syndromes that are also thought to be related to dysautonomia, such as fibromyalgia, and irritable bowel syndrome, and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Treatment and coping modalities may include increased sodium intake, exercise therapy to increase stamina, special attention to hydration, wearing compression socks, and beta-blockers.
Despite the disorder primarily affecting women, there is little sex-specific data available. That’s why groups like the POTS subreddit (46K strong) are so important. The self-reporting of symptoms and modalities helps where the data fails. We at Asterisk hope to someday play a similar role.