Katie Ledecky Just Revealed a Secret Health Struggle After Nearly 10 Years
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Katie Ledecky has nabbed a ton of medals in the 2024 Paris Olympics, tying a 60-year-old record in the process. While the 27-year-old's accomplishments are impressive no matter how you look at them, she’s also been dealing with a serious and chronic disorder known as postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS.
Katie has talked about having POTS in the past, including how it’s impacted her swimming. Here’s what she’s shared, plus the symptoms she’s dealt with.
Meet the Expert: Jennifer Wong, MD, board certified cardiologist and medical director of Non-Invasive Cardiology at MemorialCare Heart and Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California.
What disease does Katie Ledecky have?
Katie has POTS, which is is a disorder where a reduced volume of blood returns to the heart after you stand up from lying down, per the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). This can lead to lightheadedness or fainting.
That lightheadedness usually comes with an increase in heartbeat of more than 30 beats per minute or having a heart rate of over 120 beats per minute within 10 minutes of someone getting up, according to the NINDS. People will usually feel better by lying down again, says Jennifer Wong, MD, a board certified cardiologist and medical director of Non-Invasive Cardiology at MemorialCare Heart and Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California.
Anyone can develop POTS, but it’s more common in women between the ages of 15 to 50. It usually starts after pregnancy, major surgery, trauma, or a viral illness, per the NINDS.
Worth noting: Christina Applegate recently shared that her daughter was diagnosed with POTS, and Wong says that it’s possible that cases are increasing over time.
“It’s often linked to viral infections,” she says. “Given how prevalent COVID has been, I think we’re seeing it more.”
When was Katie Ledecky diagnosed with POTS and why did she keep it private?
Katie first experienced symptoms of POTS in 2015 after winning five gold medals and setting three world records at the World Aquatics Championships, according to her June 2024 memoir, Just Add Water: My Swimming Life. During a team dinner, she felt "extremely hot and lightheaded."
Just Add Water: My Swimming Life
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Katie initially chalked her symptoms up to exhaustion. But during training afterwards, she still felt off, noting that she was “super inconsistent,” had no energy on some days and struggled with dizziness.
Her coach eventually suggested that she consult a specialist at Johns Hopkins University, where she was diagnosed with POTS.
Katie kept things quiet until the release of her memoir in June. “I didn’t want something quote/unquote ‘wrong’ with me to become the narrative around Rio or Team USA,” she said in her book. “I wasn’t eager to become a distraction or to be distracted myself. I simply wanted to treat my condition as best I could and get back to going hard in the pool. Gradually, following doctor’s orders, I started feeling better.”
Katie has said that she wasn’t necessarily hiding her condition, but "it just never felt like it was something I needed to share."
“I’ve had it under control completely," she told SELF in June. "I really just had to add salt to my diet and wear compression gear. Whenever I get sick and when I go to hot environments, I need to be especially careful to stay on top of my salt and hydration."
What POTS symptoms does Katie Ledecky have?
In her book, Katie opened up about how POTS impacts her.
“Because I have POTS, I pool blood in the vessels below my heart when I stand,” she wrote. “My body then releases extra norepinephrine or epinephrine, which adds additional stressors on my heart, making it beat faster. Which, in turn, bring on dizziness, fainting, and exhaustion.”
Does POTS affect Katie Ledecky’s swimming?
Katie is now under a doctor’s care for POTS and found that she could treat her condition through nutrition.
"I needed to up my sodium intake and increase my hydration," she wrote in her book. "Studies also show that reclined aerobic exercise, such as swimming and strengthening your core can provide relief. Which is kind of funny. What are the odds that the prescriptive exercise for my particular disease would be…more swimming?"
Wong agrees that swimming can be helpful for people with POTS. "We often encourage our patients with POTS to do exercises like swimming as tolerated," she says. "It may help retrain the vasomotor system." (The vasomotor system controls the diameter of blood vessels, hence controlling blood pressure.)
Is POTS life-altering?
POTS is a condition that needs to be managed, although treatment really depends on the person, according to Cleveland Clinic. Still, it’s not something that goes away, and everyone experiences the condition differently.
“A diagnosis of POTS can be debilitating,” Wong says, noting that many people with the condition can’t stand or sit for long periods of time. “It can be life-altering,” she continues, "but there are treatments available."
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