Patient stories: Post-polio syndrome April 17, 2008
Posted by Bertalan Meskó in Health, Medicine, Web 2.0.trackback
I’ve been planning to write this post for a while, so it is time to show you some links about a condition that affects about 25 percent to 50 percent of polio survivors. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, post-polio syndrome:
Post-polio syndrome (PPS) is a condition that affects polio survivors years after recovery from an initial acute attack of the poliomyelitis virus. PPS is mainly characterized by new weakening in muscles that were previously affected by the polio infection and in muscles that seemingly were unaffected. Symptoms include slowly progressive muscle weakness, unaccustomed fatigue (both generalized and muscular), and, at times, muscle atrophy. Pain from joint degeneration and increasing skeletal deformities such as scoliosis are common. Some patients experience only minor symptoms. While less common, others may develop visible muscle atrophy, or wasting.
I like those services where patients can share their stories about medical conditions. Examples are MDjunction.com or iMedix. Another way to share these stories is Google Docs. Here are two stories (first and second) from patients who underwent a new therapy of post-polio syndrome. Both stories were made public through Google Docs.
Further reading:
Yet more reasons for people to get their kids vaccinated!
Nice post