Post-polio syndrome
Find out why Mayo Clinic is the right place for your health care. Make an appointment..
Find a directory of doctors and departments at all Mayo Clinic campuses. Visit now..
See how Mayo Clinic research and clinical trials advance the science of medicine and improve patient care. Explore now..
Educators at Mayo Clinic train tomorrow’s leaders to deliver compassionate, high-value, safe patient care. Choose a degree..
Explore Mayo Clinic’s many resources and see jobs available for medical professionals. Get updates..
Your support accelerates powerful innovations in patient care, research and education. Give today..
Post-polio syndrome refers to a cluster of potentially disabling signs and symptoms that appear decades — an average of 30 to 40 years — after the initial polio illness.
Polio once resulted in paralysis and death. However, the inactivated polio vaccine greatly reduced polio’s spread.
Today, few people in developed countries get paralytic polio, thanks to the vaccine, introduced in 1955. However, people who had polio at a young age might get post-polio syndrome.
Common signs and symptoms of post-polio syndrome include:
In most people, post-polio syndrome tends to progress slowly, with new signs and symptoms followed by periods of stability.
If you have increasing weakness or fatigue, see your doctor. It’s important to rule out other causes of your signs and symptoms and determine whether you have post-polio syndrome.
The basic unit of communication in the nervous system is the nerve cell (neuron). Each nerve cell consists of the cell body, which includes the nucleus, a major branching fiber (axon) and numerous smaller branching fibers (dendrites). The myelin sheath is fatty material that covers, insulates and protects nerves of the brain and spinal cord.
There are several theories as to what causes post-polio syndrome, but no one knows for sure.
When poliovirus infects your body, it affects nerve cells called motor neurons — particularly those in your spinal cord — that carry messages (electrical impulses) between your brain and your muscles.
Each neuron consists of three basic components:
A polio infection often damages or destroys many of these motor neurons. To compensate for the resulting neuron shortage, the remaining neurons sprout new fibers, and the surviving motor units enlarge.
This promotes recovery of the use of your muscles, but it also pushes the nerve cell body to nourish the additional fibers. Over the years, this stress may be more than the neuron can handle, leading to the gradual deterioration of the sprouted fibers and, eventually, of the neuron itself.
Factors that can increase your risk of developing post-polio syndrome include:
Post-polio syndrome is rarely life-threatening, but severe muscle weakness can lead to complications:
Malnutrition, dehydration and pneumonia. People who’ve had bulbar polio, which affects nerves leading to muscles involved in chewing and swallowing, often have difficulty with these activities as well as other signs of post-polio syndrome.
Chewing and swallowing problems can lead to inadequate nutrition and to dehydration, as well as to aspiration pneumonia, which is caused by inhaling food particles into your lungs (aspirating).
Chronic respiratory failure. Weakness in your diaphragm and chest muscles makes it harder to take deep breaths and cough, which can cause fluid and mucus to build up in your lungs.
Obesity, smoking, curvature of the spine, anesthesia, prolonged immobility and certain medications can further decrease your breathing ability, possibly leading to a sharp drop in blood oxygen levels (acute respiratory failure). You might then need treatment to help you breathe (ventilation therapy).
Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission.
Check out these best-sellers and special offers on books and newsletters from Mayo Clinic.
Any use of this site constitutes your agreement to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy linked below.
A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only. “Mayo,” “Mayo Clinic,” “MayoClinic.org,” “Mayo Clinic Healthy Living,” and the triple-shield Mayo Clinic logo are trademarks of Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.
This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information:
verify here.
Post-polio syndrome
Research & References of Post-polio syndrome|A&C Accounting And Tax Services
Source
0 Comments