Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome

Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS, also postural tachycardia syndrome) is a condition of dysautonomia

Dysautonomia

Dysautonomia is a broad term that describes any disease or malfunction of the autonomic nervous system. This includes postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome , inappropriate sinus tachycardia , vasovagal syncope, mitral valve prolapse dysautonomia, pure autonomic failure, neurocardiogenic...

, more specifically orthostatic intolerance

Orthostatic intolerance

Orthostatic intolerance is a subcategory of dysautonomia, a disorder of the autonomic nervous system occurring when an individual stands up....

, in which a change from the supine position

Supine position

The supine position is a position of the body: lying down with the face up, as opposed to the prone position, which is face down, sometimes with the hands behind the head or neck. When used in surgical procedures, it allows access to the peritoneal, thoracic and pericardial regions; as well as the...

to an upright position causes an abnormally large increase in heart rate, called tachycardia

Tachycardia

Tachycardia comes from the Greek words tachys and kardia . Tachycardia typically refers to a heart rate that exceeds the normal range for a resting heart rate...

. Several studies show a decrease in cerebral blood flow with systolic and diastolic cerebral blood flow

Cerebral blood flow

Cerebral blood flow, or CBF, is the blood supply to the brain in a given time. In an adult, CBF is typically 750 millitres per minute or 15% of the cardiac output. This equates to 50 to 54 millilitres of blood per 100 grams of brain tissue per minute. CBF is tightly regulated to meet the brain's...

(CBF) velocity decreased 44% and 60%, respectively.