The Curse Of Polio Lingers
Post-polio syndrome, which could leave victims using wheelchairs or ventilators, affects up to 40 percent of polio survivors and strikes survivors 15 to 40 years after the original disease, says a report released by the March of Dimes.
"There is a cruel legacy of this disease that is coming out," says Christopher Howson, a neurologist and director of global programs for the March of Dimes.
The March of Dimes is a voluntary health agency that works to improve the health of infants by preventing birth defects and infant mortality.
There is no definitive test for post-polio syndrome and most doctors are unfamiliar with it, Howson said in an interview.
Joanne Kelly's childhood was defined by polio. But at 13 when her braces were removed, she never looked back.
"When I went off to college I forgot about polio, I married, I became a teacher, I had a son and the years went by. It wasn't until 1990 that I started to notice things," recalled Kelly.
What she noticed was a weakening of her upper body: pains, aches and fatigue — the hallmarks of post-polio syndrome, reports CBS News Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Kaledin.
"When these folks had polio they lost at least 50 percent of the nerves in their spinal chord and in the brain stem. Over the course of time the nerves that remained after the polio infection that were damaged took over the function of the nerves that were killed," explained Dr. Richard Bruno of the Englewood Hospital and Medical Center.
The result is that more than a million polio survivors, like actress Chris Templeton, have spent a life overworking an already damaged nervous system. Fifty years after the major polio epidemic, people like Templeton find their bodies are failing.
"I blew out my wrist because I use a cane all the time and because I was lifting weights all the time," said Templeton.
Polio eradication is one of the successes of modern medicine. The Americas were declared polio-free in 1994; the international medical community is aiming for global eradication by 2005.
Ironically, the syndrome appears most likely to strike those polio victims who successfully rehabilitated themselves after the initial attack.
The only remedy is rest.
"Polio survivors now realize the more they use it, they lose it. They have to conserve to preserve," said Dr. Bruno.
Howson said there are many things a victim can do to cope with the syndrome in consultation with an experienced physician, including weight loss, energy-conservation techniques and exercise.
It seems an unjust sentence for a group of people who have already overcome so much. Now they're being told the best thing they can do is slow down.
Post-polio syndrome is not only a physical challenge, it opens old psychological wounds as well. People who thought they had licked the disease when they were children are now being told they may need braces and wheelchairs — again.
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