Many people who experience dizziness and a racing heart after standing may have a condition called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). Researchers have found a potential new treatment that could bring relief.
A drug already used for heart failure, called ivabradine, was tested in a small study and showed promising results for people with POTS. The medication helped control heart rate increases and significantly reduced symptoms like dizziness and chest pain without lowering blood pressure.
POTS is a rare condition affecting less than 1% of the population, but awareness of it has grown thanks to social media. Patients often struggle to get a diagnosis because the cause is not fully understood, and it doesn’t clearly involve heart or brain problems. Instead, experts believe it’s related to how the body regulates heart rate when standing.
In the study, 10 patients (mostly women around age 28) took ivabradine. Before treatment, their heart rates jumped about 40 beats per minute upon standing; after treatment, the increase was only 15 beats per minute. Participants also reported feeling faint 69% less often and chest pain decreased by 66%.
Researchers think that in POTS, standing triggers an excessive release of norepinephrine—a stress hormone that speeds up the heart—creating a harmful cycle of symptoms similar to anxiety or panic attacks. Ivabradine helps break this cycle by slowing the heart rate.
While these results are encouraging, scientists say more research is needed to fully understand POTS and confirm how ivabradine can best help patients.
Dr. Antonio Abbate, lead researcher and cardiologist, noted that this discovery points to heart rate as a key factor in causing POTS symptoms, opening the door to better treatments in the future.
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