Tag: POTS
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Brain Publishes Letter About Flawed Study from NYU on ‘Psychogenic POTS’
When I have previously written about functional neurological disorder, or FND, I have gotten flack from FND patients. I understand from these exchanges that some have taken what I have written as criticizing patients with these diagnoses or dismissing their suffering. That is certainly not my intention. I know these conditions can be extremely disabling.…
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A Letter to Journal Brain About Paper Claiming POTS Is a “Functional Psychogenic Disorder”
I recently criticized a study from New York University’s neurology department. The investigators wildly over-interpreted their findings in order to argue that postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, is a “functional psychogenic disorder.” This morning, I sent a letter to Brain, the journal that published the paper, on behalf of several colleagues as well as…
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Is POTS a “Functional Psychogenic Disorder”? Yes, According to NYU Research Team
Research into conditions categorized as “medically unexplained symptoms” (MUS) or “functional” disorders seems rife with studies that eagerly interpret associations and correlations as causal relationships. Not surprisingly, these proposed causal relationships tend to flow in the direction required by the investigators’ hypotheses, not in the direction that would undermine their arguments. A classic example is…