Grant: CIHR Fellowship

Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) affects an estimated 400,000 Canadians, and is most common in young, female adults. POTS is a debilitating condition that causes people to feel very unwell when they stand up or after physical activity, leading to severe and long-lasting fatigue. These symptoms limit the activities that people perform during their prime years of life with their families or in the workforce, resulting in a reduced quality of life and financial hardship. The most effective therapy leading to sustained improvement for POTS patients is progressive exercise training, with up to 70% of patients not meeting POTS diagnosis criteria after completing a prescribed exercise training program. However, approximately 25% of POTS patients do not respond well to exercise and ultimately drop out of exercise programs. My research aims to determine why a large minority of POTS patients respond poorly to exercise training therapy. I will assess the complex biological responses of 100 POTS patients during exercise and post-exercise recovery before and after completing 12 weeks of structured strength and endurance exercise training. Biological responses will be measured using a "multi-omics" method, which brings together information from multiple levels of biology to understand how processes in the body change with exercise. The responses of the POTS patients will be compared to responses of 2,000 healthy male and female adults. Comparisons between POTS patients and healthy individuals will determine if some POTS patients have abnormal responses to exercise contributing to their poor training outcomes, and may also provide important clues into why POTS is a condition that mainly affects females. Overall, this research will help us to understand why some POTS patients cannot tolerate exercise training as a therapy, and provide an opportunity to develop personalized treatments to improve POTS patients' quality of life.