Free Live Webinar on Dysautonomia, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome to Answer Patient Questions

Boca Raton based internist, Dr. Roderick Santa Maria will assist patients during a live webinar on October 30^th, 2013. He’ll address questions and concerns about the often misunderstood autonomic nervous system disease, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (Dysautonomia).

A racing heart—vertigo, a constant thirst? When these symptoms strike, few patients know where to turn. Affecting an estimated 500,000 to one million individuals in the United States alone, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) is becoming a frequently seen, but largely misunderstood, enigma in the offices of cardiologists, internists, neurologists and emergency rooms nationwide. Found primarily in young women,  POTS affects an estimated one out of every 100 teenagers. (Mayo Clinic)

Boca Raton internist, Dr. Roderick Santa Maria, has been inviting patients with POTS-like symptoms to be diagnosed and treated at his office for the past several years. Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, a form of Dysautonomia, can cause multiple problems including racing heart beats, fluctuating blood pressure upon standing, sitting or laying down, bowels that alternate between going to much and not going at all and blood vessels that contract and dilate in the brain—giving rise to painful migraine headaches. Volume dysregulation or dehydration is a frequent and difficult feature of the syndrome as well.

Patients diagnosed  with or suspected to have  POTS present with many chronic symptoms that are not directly related to orthostatic stress and can cause a great deal of discomfort even when the person is lying horizontal.

“It’s so important that patients with uncommon diseases like POTS/Dysautonomia have the chance to connect and share resources in a supportive setting,” says Dr. Santa Maria. “We’ve been able to host two support groups in the last two months and have been floored by the turnout.”

Now the doctor wants to expand his reach to patients who may be unable to travel to local meetings.

Patients worldwide are invited to attend the hour-long webinar to ask questions and learn more information about the disease. The session will focus on answering audience questions. The first half-hour will focus on pre-sent queries which patients can send to the email [email protected]. Viewers will also be able to ask questions live in a chatroom during the talk to be answered during the second half of the webinar.