Strassheim, Victoria, Welford, Jenny, Ballantine, Rob et al. · Autonomic neuroscience : basic & clinical · 2018 · DOI
This review examines fatigue in people with PoTS (postural tachycardia syndrome), a condition where heart rate increases abnormally when standing. The authors explain why fatigue happens in PoTS, how it overlaps with ME/CFS, and describe practical approaches doctors can use to help manage it by treating the individual causes of fatigue in each patient.
Many ME/CFS patients have concurrent or misdiagnosed PoTS, making understanding fatigue mechanisms in PoTS directly relevant. This study clarifies the clinical distinction and overlap between these conditions and provides practical management strategies that may benefit patients with both conditions or diagnostic uncertainty.
This review does not establish causation or provide new primary data comparing PoTS and ME/CFS fatigue directly. It does not prove that PoTS-specific treatments will effectively treat ME/CFS fatigue, nor does it determine whether PoTS is a common feature of ME/CFS or vice versa.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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