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Is post-polio permanent?
Symptoms vary from mild flu-like symptoms to life-threatening paralysis. In less than 1% of cases, polio causes permanent paralysis of the arms, legs or breathing muscles. Between 5% and 10% of people who develop paralytic polio will die. Physical symptoms may emerge 15 years or more after the first polio infection.
What is the life expectancy of someone with post-polio?
Outlook. In most cases, post-polio syndrome life expectancy is good. PPS is rarely life-threatening, though symptoms can vary from mild to severe. If you have PPS, talk to your doctor about how to manage your condition.
Does post-polio syndrome get worse?
Post-polio syndrome (PPS) can cause a wide range of symptoms that can significantly affect everyday life. These tend to develop gradually and get worse very slowly over time.
Is it possible to fully recover from polio?
There is no cure for paralytic polio and no specific treatment. Physical or occupational therapy can help with arm or leg weakness caused by polio and might improve long-term outcomes, especially if implemented early in the course of illness.
Is post-polio syndrome fatal?
Post-polio syndrome is rarely life-threatening, although some people develop breathing and swallowing difficulties that can lead to serious problems, such as chest infections.
Does post-polio syndrome affect brain?
Autopsies in some polio patients have found damage to the brainstem and motor cortex as well as to spinal motor neurons.
Is post-polio syndrome a disability?
Post-polio Syndrome is a complex medical condition which may impact an individual's employment as well as their personal life. If you are unable to work because of Post-polio Syndrome, you may be eligible for Social Security Disability benefits.
What are the side effects of post polio?
What are the symptoms of post-polio syndrome?Progressive weakness (common)Tiredness (fatigue) (common)Pain in the muscles and joints (common)Muscle shrinkage.Trouble swallowing.Breathing problems.Sleep disorders.Sensitivity to cold temperatures.
Does polio make you unable to walk?
Polio often paralyzed or severely weakened the legs of those who contracted the disease. Regaining the ability to walk was thus a significant measure of recovery from the disease. However, walking meant more than the physical act itself.
Does polio return later in life?
Post-polio syndrome is a group of potentially disabling signs and symptoms that appear decades after the initial polio illness. These signs and symptoms usually appear between 30 to 40 years after having polio. Infection from the polio virus once caused paralysis and death.
Does having polio give lifelong immunity?
Poliovirus infection can provide lifelong immunity against the disease, but this protection is limited to the particular type of poliovirus involved (Type 1, 2, or 3). Infection with one type does not protect an individual against infection with the other two types.
Is post-polio syndrome progressive?
It is characterized by the development of progressive weakness in muscles that were affected by the original polio infection. In addition, those affected may experience extreme fatigue and joint pain. Skeletal deformities, such as scoliosis, may occur as a result of this syndrome.
Can polio paralysis be reversed?
The main symptoms of PPS are new progressive muscle weakness that gradually worsens, together with severe fatigue and pain in muscles and joints. It is often accompanied by decreased muscle endurance during activities. No cure exists for PPS.
Is polio still around in 2022?
Sadly, the epidemiology of polio in 2022 should have come as no surprise. Reported global polio cases dropped from around 35,000 in 1988 to less than 2,100 by 2001. However, since 2001, the annual number of reported polio cases has hovered between 42 (in 2016) and 2,100.
Are there still polio patients in iron lungs?
Defeating Polio, The Disease That Paralyzed America. Sixty-eight years later, an iron lung is still keeping Lillard alive — she sleeps in it every night. While many people who had polio or post-polio syndrome either weaned themselves off the machines or switched to another form of ventilator, Lillard never did.
Can you have polio twice?
One possibility is that the polio virus becomes active again after decades of lying dormant in the victim's cells. Another possibility involves impaired production of hormones and neurotransmitters in brain.