Dysautonomia is a term use to explain disharmony or dysregulation of
how the autonomic nervous system functions both at rest and under different conditions. These disorders involve a cluster of signs and symptoms that may involve many organ systems including cardiac, gastrointestinal, neurological, pulmonary, genitourinary as well as others.
Dysautonomia is an "invisible' illness that is far from rare but rarely known. Every clinician, often without knowing it, has at least a handful of dysautonomia patients under his/her care.
As a healthcare society, we need to refrain from the word cure in those with POTS and ensure education is at the forefront of this very poorly misunderstood cyclical condition. No specialist or doctor owns POTS as dysautonomia is a disorder whereby all health professionals and specialistations have a role in untangling such a complex web of systems.
In everyday practice, the average primary care physician aims to spend less than 15 minutes for most initial and follow up consultations, yet the undiagnosed patient with dysautonomia has a large array of multi-organ problems that are largely heterogeneous.
Over the past 2 years since the COVID pandemic, we have seen an explosion of POTS cases that unfortunately have been diagnosed as having anxiety-related disorders, migraine, IBS and even those that fall under the umbrella of functional neurological disorders. The fact is all POTS patients present differently with their unique co-existing
"physiologic signatures" which needs to be taken in consideration if a treatment plan is going to have a positive effect.
In the 3 webinars we dive into the world of dysautonomia, especially as it relates to POTS so that I can provide you with the tools to adequately assess and manage this altered physiological state of the body.
