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- Post-Polio Syndrome and Erectile Dysfunction
A disorder known as PPS (post-polio syndrome) is a complaint that can affect polio survivors in later life. It presents as muscle weakness in a previous site where the polio infection first occurred.
Markers are shown as gradual muscle weakening, unexplained overall tiredness and occasionally muscular degeneration. This can affect patients with different degrees of disability. With the pain from degenerating joints, that can cause bone deformities like scoliosis, also muscle atrophy.
The respiratory system can also be affected and there are reports of swallowing difficulties, all due to muscle weakness. As the majority of polio survivors were children when they were stricken with the virus, it makes them too young to recall the severity of the first attack of the disease.
This is showing that those with few original symptoms are a experiencing a minor relapse, whereas the more severe the original ailment the more likely they are to develop worse symptoms. The reoccurrence of problems from the original poliovirus is thought to originate from it damaging certain neurons (the motor unit in nerve cells). The anterior horn cells and the brainstem, seem to be the central areas where new nerve terminals have evolved, as a self-help to repair and recover some mobility. This internal support system happening over the years, is of great strain to the body and can’t be sustained as eventually this leads to permanent and irreversible damage.
This could possibly be the reason for a fairly stable period of remission from the initial infection, with a slow progression to a relapse. It has been reported from male and female PPS sufferers, a significant problem with sexual dysfunction. In the case of men, erectile dysfunction can be helped by taking Viagra and Cialis, well-known treatments for impotency. It is not really known why sexual activity should be hindered by the reoccurrence of poliomyelitis. Even though muscle fatigue and pain induced by sudden movement, could be an obstacle, they are not aware of a cause for the erectile dysfunction.
Article Source: http://www.uk-med.co.uk/Health/Post-Polio-Syndrome-and-Erectile-Dysfunction/
- Directions for polio event on Sunday
Overhead map
View Westminster Oaks in a larger mapWritten Direction from TMH to Westminster Oaks
Please look at our pictures of the Maguire Center
posted previously….See you there!Article source: http://capitalpolio.blogspot.com/2010/07/directions-for-polio-event-on-sunday.html
- Famous Polios- Highlight on Desmond Tutu- 1st in Series!
Desmond Tutu, archbishop emeritus and nobel peace laureate, is also a polio survivor. He is the polio ambassador in Rotary’s “This Close” Campaign. The football that has traveled through the 23 polio-affected countries during the Kick Polio Out of Africa Campaign, was signed by him and we believe- silently blessed for a safe journey…read full article
His personality truly comes to life in this late night intereview with Craig Ferguson…what a sense of humor! This was filmed a few months before his announcement of resignation.
No one better embodied the contradictory times. Standing all of five foot three, Bishop Tutu could whip a crowd into a frenzy, then insist on nonviolence. He was given to making intemperate remarks and offering breathtaking forgiveness all in the same speech. The title of John Allen’s biography captures the seesaw spirit of this “rabble-rouser for peace.”
Considering the challenges of the first half of his life, few would have guessed that Tutu would become such a forceful figure. He was lucky to survive childhood: born into near-poverty, sickly from birth, he contracted polio in infancy and then was badly burned. A community of Anglican monks shaped his life, and perhaps saved it—providing hospital care for more than a year as he narrowly survived tuberculosis…read full article
Article source: http://capitalpolio.blogspot.com/2010/07/famous-polios-highlight-on-desmond-tutu.html
- India: Private Bill on post-polio syndrome
Capital Polio Association unites polio survivors, family and friends in Tallahassee, Florida and the surrounding areas. To polios, family and friends visiting Tallahassee, be sure and let us know! You always have a community to connect with. We would love to hear from you.
Article source: http://capitalpolio.blogspot.com/2010/08/india-private-bill-on-post-polio.html
- Famous Polios-Highlight on Judy Collins- 2nd in Series!
Judy Collins’s voice can ring in the ears most Americans who love folk music. Even if you don’t like the folk genre, I’m sure you’ve heard her sweet, melodic voice at some point, unsure of who that incredble woman was. Well, she was a polio survivor and a remarkable lady. She has had to overcome many obstacles, polio being one, and her son’s suicide, another, but all the while she learns to find her true purpose and specific means of support, including meditation, among others. Take a look at this article, which will lead you on a mini (and fun) scavenger hunt of her very colored life. There are also a few more videos that are very touching and personal and provide a real connection to her struggles and accomplishments throughout her life.
Article source: http://capitalpolio.blogspot.com/2010/08/famous-polios-judy-collins-highlights.html
- Bay Cliff post polio wellness retreat video
I just came across this website and maybe most of you have seen it before, but the video is uplfting and filled with hope. It is nice to know that these retreats are important enough to have. It looks like the next one (Bay Cliff is in Michigan) is scheduled for October. Anyone up for a cold weather vacation? I will be posting one on Warm Springs as well. Check it out!
http://www.baycliff.org/site/post-polio.html
Article source: http://capitalpolio.blogspot.com/2010/08/bay-cliff-post-polio-wellness-retreat.html
- Famous Polios-Highlight on Mia Farrow- 3rd in Series
Mia Farrow, international movie star and goodwill ambassador, contracted polio at a young age. As we all know, it did not get in the way of her incredible career or family life. She now works strongly with UNICEF to help support children in war torn countries….read full article
Article source: http://capitalpolio.blogspot.com/2010/08/famous-polios-highlight-on-mia-farrow.html
- Remembering Paul Longmore, disability activist/polio survivor
Longmore, a leading disability scholar and activist who taught at San Francisco State, died Aug. 9 of natural causes at his San Francisco home, said his sister, Ellen Brown. He was 64.
“He devoted his life to making this a better and more just world,” Robert A. Corrigan, the university’s president, said in a statement. “Legendary, inspirational, pioneering, irreverent … many words are needed to sum up this remarkable man.” Read full article…
Article source: http://capitalpolio.blogspot.com/2010/08/remembering-paul-longmore-disability.html
- Good news on polio vaccination from India
I went to India in 2009 to watch the massive efforts taking place to wipe out polio from its remaining enclaves. What I saw, in Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, was pretty impressive – I wrote about it here.
The photographer with whom I was working, Jean-Marc Giboux, went back recently to Bihar, the hardest region for the vaccinators to reach. This is the film of his visit, which offers hope that we may finish the job. India has not had a polio case now for nine months.
Article source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/sarah-boseley-global-health/2011/oct/28/polio-india
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