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Saturday, June 6, 2015

By Ericka Marsh


Some diseases are rare but have far reaching effects than those which are commonly encountered. Polio virus infection is one such rare disease. It usually affects children under the age of fifteen years but rarely adults. All the same, the disease may recur in a new form in fifteen to thirty years after the initial infection. This is what is termed as post polio syndrome. Post-polio blog outline this phenomenon in more details.

Once a person survives initial disease attack, it takes a long duration of time for the new symptoms to present. These symptoms imitate those of the previous disease and may be difficult to distinguish from other illnesses. The symptoms include loss of muscle mass, pain, body malaise and fatigue. Occasionally, other symptoms may appear depending on body parts affected.

The means by which this disease manifests its symptoms and signs are not well documented. All that is available regarding this are theories which are thought to be the truth. Such theories abound but one that is most acceptable is neural fatigue. It tries to clarify that initial polio infection leads to death of several nerve cells. Following these deaths, remaining nerve cells takes over the role of dead ones by increasing their terminals. This becomes unsustainable at some point leading to recurrence of polio like symptoms thereafter.

Diagnosing this state of health is challenging. There are so many differentials like aging, poliomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome among many more. In addition, there are no specified lab tests to verify this disease. All the same, there are up to three important ways to diagnose this disease. These include previous diagnosis of polio, long interval of time after initial diagnosis and finally gradual onset of weakness and malaise.

Several symptomatic management options exist. They serve to eliminate distressing features experienced by patient as pain but not to cure the primary illness. There is no clear curative regime available to manage this disease. Adequate rest, pain control and fatigue control are but a few care modalities available. Drugs may also be used alongside treatment options available.

Of all the symptoms, fatigue is the most conspicuous and very distressing symptom. Nearly all persons with this syndrome complain of fatigue. They points out fatigue as one most undesired feature. To effectively handle this feature, a number of options are employed. These include fatigue medication, weight reduction, workload reduction as well as change of life style.

Prognosis is good for persons suffering from this illness. Most persons affected recover fully to their previous state of health. However, a number of victims succumb to their illness when vital body functions are impaired. One such case may involve compromise of respiratory muscles. Recovery usually takes a longer time but this dependent upon several factors and individual differences. Despite being a progressive disease, case fatality is low and only a quarter of all victims succumb to it.

Even though there is no definite treatment for this disease, it is possible to control its symptoms and signs effectively. This is a nice way of preventing permanent disability and relieving one of distress. Let all affected persons be assisted as this is the only sure way of manning this illness.




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