POTS Support Group Begins at SSM St. Clare Health Center

Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, is a neurological condition that leaves its sufferers with intolerance to change from a lying to standing position. When people with POTS stand, their heart rate increases by 30 beats or more per minute, a condition known as tachycardia, in the body’s effort to move blood back to the heart.

POTS can be a debilitating condition and has no cure. Those living with POTS may not be able to hold jobs, attend school, exercise or enjoy other activities. Some POTS symptoms can be alleviated with management by neurologists who specialize in the treatment of POTS and other disorders of the body’s autonomic nervous system, which controls blood flow.

Dr. Laurence Kinsella, a neurologist with SSM Neurosciences Institute, and St. Clare Health Center are hosting a new support group for people with POTS and their loved ones. The monthly support group is facilitated by Lindsay Sihilling, who has been living with POTS for three years. The support group’s purpose is to provide resources, information, emotional support, coping strategies and fellowship to those diagnosed with POTS.

The support group meets the third Tuesday of each month from 5:30-7 p.m. in the Fr. Krings Conference Center, located on the garden level of St. Clare Health Center at 1015 Bowles Ave., Fenton, Missouri 63026. Light refreshments are provided.

Dr. Kinsella specializes in the diagnosis and management of autonomic function disorders, including POTS, and operates the region’s only dedicated testing lab for these conditions.