Cases of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) have increased since the pandemic. The condition is mostly found in women and can be debilitating. It is often exacerbated by a viral infection like Covid-19 and does not have a cure. 

What defines this syndrome?
POTS is a "condition that causes a number of symptoms when you transition from lying down to standing up, such as a fast heart rate, dizziness and fatigue," said the Cleveland Clinic. If you have POTS, your body "can't coordinate the balancing act of blood vessel constriction (squeezing) and heart rate response," which means your body "can't keep your blood pressure steady and stable." 

The condition affected between 1 million and 3 million people prior to 2020. Research now suggests anywhere from 2% to 14% of people infected with Covid-19 may develop POTS. "The most common trigger of POTS is a viral infection," Svetlana Blitshteyn, a neurologist and the director of the Dysautonomia Clinic in Buffalo, New York, said to CBS News. This includes viruses like influenza and parvovirus and Covid-19."

There has been a recent slew of diagnoses in teens and adults who were otherwise healthy. Specifically, highly trained female athletes have been affected. "These patients are young people in their 20s, 30s and 40s who were healthy or had minor medical problems that didn't impact their lives before, and now they are expressing extreme fatigue, dizziness, headache, inability to exercise, and some are unable to work," Blitshteyn said. 

However, doctors are not quick to diagnose POTS. "Since POTS isn't technically life-threatening, if you're fatigued or fainting, have a racing heartbeat, a doc will likely scan you for other, perhaps more immediately dangerous, things before considering POTS," said Self.

Who is most affected?
"It's not a lock-and-key situation with just anybody getting Covid and then POTS," Camden Hebson, a pediatric cardiologist, said to The Washington Post. "It's that some patients had a predisposition to POTS to begin with, and then something comes along … to give them a push." POTS is largely found in women, who are thought to be "more vulnerable to inflammation," said the Post.

For years, Democrats have framed Donald Trump as a "threat to democracy," a "fraud" and a "con man," all in an attempt to impart a sense of looming and existential endangerment over his political ascendency. 

This year, however, as a reenergized Democratic party rallies around Vice President Kamala Harris as its new standard-bearer, a growing number of lawmakers have rolled out a new line of attack on Trump and his vice-presidential pick, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance: They're just weird. Although perhaps not the most sophisticated line of attack, it's a message that has gained traction.

'Weird people' was an online hit
The trend arguably began with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, whose "description last week of 'weird people on the other side' was an online hit with Democrats," The New York Times said. Soon after, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg similarly described Trump as getting "older and stranger," and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Vance is "weird" and "erratic." Harris added her campaign's official seal of approval, writing in a memo that Trump is "old and quite weird." 

Previous attempts by Democrats to use "high-minded defenses of our principles or elegant rhetorical phrases aren't doing the job," said The Bulwark. "Neither is existential dread." Labeling Trump and Vance as weird is "less lofty and more grounded in daily reality," added The Bulwark. 

The tactic "conspicuously stands apart from the Democrats' usual 'when they go low, we go high' modus operandi," ABC News said. It also stands in "sharp contrast to the Republicans, who have yet to emerge with their own effective message to counter Harris' 'honeymoon' period," The Independent said. 

'Cut the crap please'
To a lesser extent, Republicans have also "gotten in on the action," including releasing a campaign memo for Senate candidates highlighting Harris' "weird" behavior, such as loving Venn diagrams, Semafor said. The GOP's attempt to flip the "weird" attack back at Harris might be "one way to undermine Harris' personal appeal without getting into more sensitive territory" like race and gender. 

Not all Republicans seem to agree, however. Former GOP presidential candidate and fervent Trump backer Vivek Ramaswamy decried the Democrats as acting "dumb and juvenile" and urged them on X to "win on policy if you can, but cut the crap please."