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Source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ar-BB1lnBx2
They’re young and athletic. They’re also ill with a condition called POTS.
Story by Ariana Eunjung Cha
• 16h • 8 min read
Kaleigh Levine was running drills in the gym with her lacrosse team at Notre Dame College in South Euclid, Ohio, when everything turned black.
“The coach wanted me to get back in the line, but I couldn’t see,” she remembered.
Her vision returned after a few minutes, but several months and a half-dozen medical specialists later, the 20-year-old goalie was diagnosed with a mysterious condition known as POTS.
First described more than 150 years ago, the syndrome has proliferated since the coronavirus pandemic. Before 2020, 1 million to 3 million people suffered from POTS in the United States, researchers estimate. Precise numbers are difficult to come by because the condition encompasses a spectrum of symptoms, and many people have still never heard of it. Recent studies suggest 2 to 14 percent of people infected with the coronavirus may go on to develop POTS.
The syndrome tends to strike suddenly, leaving previously healthy people unable to function, with no clear cause. In recent years, doctors specializing in the condition have noticed a curious and disproportionate subset of patients: young, highly trained athletes who are female.
Short for postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, POTS is diagnosed when a patient’s heart rate goes berserk, jumping way above normal when changing position from lying down to standing.
Teens and young adults at peak fitness are generally regarded as being extremely healthy, so the burst of POTS cases has puzzled doctors.
Several factors may be conspiring, said Robert Wilson, a neurologist who runs the Cleveland Clinic’s POTS practice. It could be that women of childbearing age are more vulnerable to inflammation. It could reflect the damage that comes with being hit with a virus unknown to humans until 2020. And the stress associated with repetitive physical exhaustion could leave athletes at risk...
“It’s something of a perfect storm of susceptibility,” Wilson said...
They’re young and athletic. They’re also ill with a condition called POTS.
Story by Ariana Eunjung Cha
• 16h • 8 min read
Kaleigh Levine was running drills in the gym with her lacrosse team at Notre Dame College in South Euclid, Ohio, when everything turned black.
“The coach wanted me to get back in the line, but I couldn’t see,” she remembered.
Her vision returned after a few minutes, but several months and a half-dozen medical specialists later, the 20-year-old goalie was diagnosed with a mysterious condition known as POTS.
First described more than 150 years ago, the syndrome has proliferated since the coronavirus pandemic. Before 2020, 1 million to 3 million people suffered from POTS in the United States, researchers estimate. Precise numbers are difficult to come by because the condition encompasses a spectrum of symptoms, and many people have still never heard of it. Recent studies suggest 2 to 14 percent of people infected with the coronavirus may go on to develop POTS.
The syndrome tends to strike suddenly, leaving previously healthy people unable to function, with no clear cause. In recent years, doctors specializing in the condition have noticed a curious and disproportionate subset of patients: young, highly trained athletes who are female.
Short for postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, POTS is diagnosed when a patient’s heart rate goes berserk, jumping way above normal when changing position from lying down to standing.
Teens and young adults at peak fitness are generally regarded as being extremely healthy, so the burst of POTS cases has puzzled doctors.
Several factors may be conspiring, said Robert Wilson, a neurologist who runs the Cleveland Clinic’s POTS practice. It could be that women of childbearing age are more vulnerable to inflammation. It could reflect the damage that comes with being hit with a virus unknown to humans until 2020. And the stress associated with repetitive physical exhaustion could leave athletes at risk...
“It’s something of a perfect storm of susceptibility,” Wilson said...