Post-polio syndrome is a rare neurological disease included in the group of motor neuron diseases secondary to an infection.
It is characterized by fatigue, progressive muscle weakness with loss of function, and pain, and that appears exclusively in patients who were infected by the poliovirus between thirty or forty years earlier.
At present, it is estimated that in Spain there are about 300,000 people with polio sequelae.
The post-polio syndrome occurs in 20-80% of people who were affected by polio, it is more common in women, and there is a direct relationship between the risk of suffering from this syndrome and the degree of severity of polio sequelae.
During infection with the poliovirus, many of the neurons of the anterior spinal cord antlers are damaged or destroyed; others survive polio and assume the function of the injured neurons; in this way, the patient regains control of his muscles at the cost of a hyperfunction of the surviving cells.
After a period of between thirty and forty years or even more, these overloaded neurons begin to fail to lead to the onset of the disease.
The restoration of neuronal function may occur a second time in some fibers, but, over time, nerve terminals are destroyed, and the disease becomes permanent.
Evolution of Neurons
Some authors also point out the importance of the normal aging process that, by itself, causes a decrease in the number of neurons with the consequent muscle weakness. This process helps to increase the symptoms of post-polio syndrome. No evidence was found that the syndrome is due to a reactivation of the virus.
Post-polio syndrome can be triggered after a fall, a prolonged rest period, a mild accident, or with the onset of other diseases.
Clinically it manifests itself as a progressive muscular weakness, atrophy of the extremities, of the bulbar innervation muscles and of the respiratory muscles, combined with fatigue, decreased resistance to arthralgia exertion, and asthenia.
Another type of later manifestations may be difficulty swallowing, respiratory problems, speech disorders, and psychological symptoms such as anxiety, depression, insomnia, and impaired concentration and memory. All this entails a great limitation to perform daily activities, which makes these patients tend to gain weight.
An evolution marks the process in outbreaks, and the severity of the syndrome depends on the severity of the initial polio process: patients who suffered from mild polio will have minimal symptoms if they suffer from post-polio syndrome. In contrast, those who were most severely affected by the virus will have a more acute post-polio syndrome with greater loss of muscle function.
The diagnosis is clinical and is based on the history of polio, a neurological examination, and a series of complementary tests aimed at ruling out other possible causes of disease.
The loss of strength of the patient must also be evaluated over time. For this, nuclear magnetic resonance, muscle biopsy, electrophysiological studies, and cerebrospinal fluid analysis are used.
Generally, post-polio syndrome is not life-threatening, except in those patients who experience acute respiratory deterioration.
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Since I started working in the media, and I had to travel frequently to Madrid – for work meetings and events – I also started to book in hostels. He spent very little time in accommodation and was a way to make the trip cheaper.
Although I had already heard of the exchange of houses, I had not tried it yet. My first experience with this form of hosting was with GuestToGuest. A company that proposed two alternatives: make a reciprocal exchange or do it by redeeming it for guest points – in a few paragraphs, I explain what they are. On the other hand, there was another company, operated by the same owners, called House Exchange, and here you could only make reservations between users of one house for another.
In the United States, without a car, you are nobody. The distances are huge, and even the smallest city is prepared for four-wheelers and not for pedestrians. In this article, I will tell you about my experience when driving on the West Coast. I will also give you some tips so that you have a great experience on your road trip.
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On the occasion of the celebration of World Poliomyelitis Day, we highlight the main milestones of the global battle against this disease.
Based on the accumulated experience in smallpox eradication, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) approved in 1985 an initiative to eradicate polio in the Region of the Americas for the year 1990. In May 1988, the World Health Assembly, at its 41st session, recognized the progress made in the Region of the Americas and, optimistic for the good results obtained with the Expanded Program on Immunization, adopted the resolution for the global eradication of polio, initially setting the target for the year 2000.
The global effort to eradicate polio is one of the most important public health initiatives in history. To eradicate polio in the world, coordinated multi-year strategic plans have been implemented progressively from each WHO Region, based on four fundamental strategies: 1) achieve high vaccination coverage with vaccination programs for routine; 2) use complementary vaccination campaigns when it is not possible to achieve what is established in the previous point or specific areas; 3) implement an acute flaccid paralysis (PFA) surveillance system that ensures that all cases of polio are detected, and 4) carry out “sweep campaigns” in areas where transmission chains are identified and with difficult access to programs vaccination Additionally, the strategies contemplate actions aimed at eliminating the poliovirus derived from the strain included in the VPO vaccine and other specific ones to overcome the obstacles that have appeared.