A New Study Links COVID-19 With This Debilitating Disease – Health News Hub

New research published in the Nature Cardiovascular Research journal has linked postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS for short) with COVID-19 infection.
The study confirms the connection between the two diseases, which had been observed by many cardiologists, including Aneesh Tolat, MD, a cardiac electrophysiologist with the Hartford HealthCare Heart & Vascular Institute.
Dr. Tolat explains POTS and its potential link to COVID.
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POTS affects a part of the nervous system that regulates involuntary functions like heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, digestion and sexual arousal. It is typically more common in women between the ages of 15 and 50.
Symptoms of the disease include:
Treatment for those with POTS is largely self-care such as increasing fluid intake, blood pressure medication, IV fluids and compression stockings, says Dr. Tolat.
> Related: Is There a Link Between COVID-19 and Atrial Fibrillation?
The researchers analyzed data on close to 300,000 patients in California who received one dose of COVID vaccine or had the virus. Most of those vaccinated received a Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccine.
They discovered a small increase in POTS after vaccination, specifically dose one, but determined the risk was five times greater for those infected with COVID. This underscores the value of vaccine, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently credited with keeping more than 18.5 million people in the U.S. out of the hospital and saving more than 3.2 million lives.
“The message is clear. More people who were unvaccinated and got COVID got POTS,” Dr. Tolat says.
POTS can be challenging to diagnose because it shares symptoms with a number of other health conditions, including dehydration. Until this point, doctors had no clear reason to connect it with COVID.
“Inflammation is likely a factor, but the exact cause for POTS is unknown,” he explains, adding that inflammation might also be the link between the condition and COVID vaccination, as noted by the research.
If you notice any symptoms of POTS, speak with your primary care doctor.
The Heart & Vascular Institute is a national leader in heart disease prevention, treatment, surgery and research. Our Cardiovascular Data Management Center provides comprehensive and continuous quality improvement information, and allows us to compare our patient outcomes to state and national benchmarks.
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