| An exercise-training program significantly improves - even cures - patients with a debilitating heart syndrome, according to a new research.
Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) is called 'The Grinch Syndrome' because most patients have a heart that's 'two sizes too small'. In the small study, 18 Caucasian women (average age 27) and one man completed the double-blind drug trial. They were randomized to receive either the beta blocker propranolol or a placebo for four weeks followed by three months of exercise training. All patients completing exercise training showed improvement in heart rate responses. Ten (53 percent) of 19 patients were "cured" of POTS. Aldosterone-to-renin ratio (that plays a critical role in how the body handles changes to blood circulation during prolonged standing) increased among those in the exercise program. This ratio is low in POTS patients, and it remained low after the beta blocker treatment. "The exercise training program is a resounding success in the treatment of POTS," said Benjamin Levine, M.D., senior study author and director at the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas. The research has been published in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association. |
