What causes POTS?

Doctors still don't know what exactly causes POTS but they know that there are POTS syndrome triggers. 

POTS is a very complex condition that can have many possible causes. These causes are broken down into two categories – primary and secondary causes. 

Primary causes of POTS include neuropathy, viral disease, physical deconditioning, and nitric oxide. These are the common causes of POTS in younger patients. 

Secondary causes of POTS include conditions like anemia, tumors, adrenal disorders, and Lyme disease. 

The most common symptom of POTS is dizziness or lightheadedness. This can greatly affect the person especially that the fainting is accompanied by fast heart rate (also known as tachycardia). These symptoms can last for 10 minutes after one stands up.  

Aside from addressing the POTS syndrome triggers, there are different ways to manage the symptoms of this syndrome. These include medications for increasing the blood volume, a change in diet (POTS patients are often recommended to increase their water and salt intake), the use of compression garments, and exercise. A good exercise program is shown to help in improving the orthostatic tolerance.
 

Image: Leonid Mamchenkov