Benign

[pearsjon]

i am not understanding how a racing hr and then a slow hr, then a high bp and then a low bp is benign. my boyfreind has high blood pressure and he is not considered benign. WHY?

surely a constant rise and falll in all our areas r just as remarkable as a constant high or low bp or hr.

is one just faster than the other at nearing the end. i am very confused by this.

he manages his through atenolol. and i take clonidine. all for the same purpose right. keep bp under control.

am i having a dys moment or is what i am asking making sense to anyone?

[ajw4790]

I am not sure what you are meaning?

I think the word benign is throwing me for a loop.

Could it be that High BP can lead to other serious cardiovascular problems, stroke etc.

And what you have maybe (b/c I don't know what your diagnosis is) is not apt to cause any further problems then the symptoms themselves. So, you are not going to have a heart attack or stroke b/c of it, there are other risk factors for these events, but they won't likely be caused because of your current BP fluctuations.

Is that what you are talking about?

Hope that helps!

[pat57]

I think agw is on track, also GUESSING that benign when applied to something has a meaning dependent on that something.

Benign tumor - non cancer. Benign NCS, non faint.

GUESSING!

[flop]

I'm not sure that benign NCS would mean a non-faint. I thought it meant a "simple faint" ie no sinister cause (like serious arrhythmia) for the faint.

It is known from studies that having consistently high blood pressure causes a substantial increase in the risk of stroke and heart attack. Where as my cardiologist told me that my pots faints wouldn't cause any problems unless I collapsed in front of a moving bus!

Flop

[Lukkychrm42]

Benign doesn't mean harmless! In the case of POTS, it could just mean that it's chronic, not usually life-threatening, and not progressive. Of course, we most often hear the word with regards to tumors when it opposes malignant, meaning cancerous. But benign tumors can also cause problems- they, too, are abnormal growths in the body where the body hasn't designed for them. Many benign tumors have to be removed.

I think your BF's high BP may be confusing, because we often think that high BP is so common that it's minor. For many people it won't cause dangerous situations, but as someone said, it does put one at a higher risk for stroke and heart attack. Of course, there are many POTSies who get high BP as a symptom while not as a regular feature of the body at rest (myself included), so in this way, classifying POTS as benign seems odd. Personally, I think that classifying illnesses as either benign or malignant is misleading due to the connotations. I think I prefer acute or chronic, or life-threatening or non life-threatening. But as you see, the REAL problem is rooted in the EITHER/OR dichotomy. If we keep relying on opposing terms, then we may forget about the variability that POTS entails (along with every other illness).

WE know how we feel, and our good doctors can see it, both in our presentation and in our empirical features.

[pat57]

found this......

"Neurally mediated syncope (NMS) is called also neurocardiogenic, vasovagal, vasodepressor or reflex mediated syncope. It's a benign (and the most frequent) cause of fainting. However, life-threatening conditions may also manifest as syncope"

[pearsjon]

luky charm,

that was kind of what i was getting out.

how can a consistent high bp been any less threatening than a flucutating one?

we potsies r classified as non-life threating(chronic, benign) call it what you want.

but BF's high bp can be life threatening and yet we are on the same drugs for the similiar reasons ( to maintain bp).

i have pots,OI,and NCS.

iam just trying to wrap my head around the difference.

i have had resting hr all day long fluctating between 105-120 with symptoms exaclty like he looks when he had it one time.

AND THIS HAPPENS TO ME ALL THE TIME all day long. am i making any sense,well inregrds to the question anyways.

i am not trying to compare the 2 probs just the mechanics behind the 2.

[morgan617]

I'm not sure I would classify all types of OI as "benign" I don't think greatly fluctuating heart rates and BP's over a period of time can be very good for you either. It has certainly taken it's toll on my body.

I think you can have varying degrees, for instance, it doesn't affect your life much, to being totally debilitating. I'm not sure I think OI has been researched long enough for anyone to say with complete 100% assurance, it is "benign" and not life threatening. I believe it's a bit premature for that type of blanket statement, if it has been made. I don't know if it has, as I haven't seen any experts myself, or anyone that has said that to me, and haven't read much literature in awhile.

Straight hypertension is called the silent killer. It is typically insidious and has no real symptoms, until something happens...ie: stroke, heart attack, whatever. But you will seldom, if ever hear a doctor say "your HTN is "benign." There are degrees of HTN too. Mild, moderate, severe, and malignant. Malignant is associated with cancer, but also out of control BP's, like those with Pheo. However, any type of HTN is always taken very seriously by any doctor worth his salt.

I agree one of the biggest problems here is the interchangeability of words (is that a word?) For instance, because my paralysis was used interchangeably with my syncope, the PP doctors found my charts to be very confusing. Which was it, syncope or paralysis...when it was both, they were just used indiscriminitely (sp).

My doctor does not consider my ans problems to be "benign." But I am not sure other people have doctors that feel that way. You know how they say, everything in moderation? Well, there's nothing moderate about a Bp going from 110/60 to 220/130 and a pulse going from 60 to 130 in a couple of minutes. So I do not think of this illness in terms of benign or malignant. There are too many variables with people.

I think OI of any type should be treated with the same respect as any type of HTN. morgan