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  • Student who fainted EVERY time she stood up for 14 years can finally stand tall after given revolutionary heart drug

    A student with a rare condition that caused her to faint every time she stood up over 14 years is finally back on her feet.
    Lizzie Rees, 22, suffers from postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), which affects the body's ability to adjust to the pull of gravity.

    The condition causes her heart rate to speed up whenever she stands, causing her to pass out up to five times a day.
    Even getting up from a chair would cause her to collapse and she often had to crawl around on her hands and knees or use a wheelchair.
    But after countless medical experts failed to cure the problem she is finally enjoying a normal life after a heart specialist prescribed a drug to control her blood flow.
    Miss Rees, from Bristol, said: 'I would pass out up to five times a day and was constantly getting injured banging my head and have to go off to A&E.
    'I have seen cardiologists and doctors of pretty much every speciality going, but it is great to know that this is treatable.
    'I remember feeling so much better after I started treatment. I still pass out occasionally but going to college now shows how far I have come.'
    POTS is a form of dysautonomia - an abnormal functioning of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), which controls many subconscious bodily functions including breathing and balance.
    When the average person stands their blood pressure drops slightly but the ANS recognises this and causes their heart rate to momentarily increase.
    But in POTS patients, their blood pressure plummets when they stand, causing the heart to race. Blood supply is not able to reach the brain quickly enough, resulting in dizziness, vision loss and fainting.
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