Lincolnshire Post-Polio Network - Reception [Site Guide]

A warm welcome from the Lincolnshire Post-Polio Network. We trust you will find your visit here beneficial. Below you will find an overview of our main Library, Networking (where you will find our Newsletters and detailes on how to join the LincsPPN) and Directory sections. Please also visit the Lincolnshire Post-Polio Network Web Site Rebuild Centre for the latest information on the site rebuild project.

The Library contains over one hundred articles covering Post-Polio Syndrome, The Late Effects of Polio and Post-Polio Sequela amongst a wide range of Post-Polio material. All articles are the full text versions, not abstracts. Some are primarily directed at Medical Professionals while others have been written for the Polio Survivor. All articles are catalogued to assist reading order. In addition there are sections covering Other Post-Polio Libraries on the Internet, Books, Online Journals and Support Group Newsletters. Finally, Library Assistant lists resources that will help you do your own medical article research.

Networking where you can find out more about The Lincolnshire Post-Polio Network and Our Intentions including How to join the LincsPPN i.e. become a member of our Network. Don't miss THE LINC-PIN, our quarterly newsletter.

The Directory is a catalogue of other resources both on the Internet and elswhere. It is divided into many subsections. The primary Post-Polio subsections include International/National/Local Organizations, Research Institutes and Organisations, Medical Professional Education, Polio Survivors on the Internet, Associated and/or Symptomatically Similar Conditions and Polio Virus, Vaccine and Eradication. In addition there are more general subsections covering Pharmaceutical Information, Disability Living, Mental Health, Occupational Therapy, Pain Management, Complimentary Therapies, Neurology, Orthopaedics, Orthotics, Medical/Healthcare Resource Search Facilities and Medical/Healthcare News and Information Services.

We are a Non-Profit Organisation and a UK Registered Charity (No. 1064177). All our work including this web site is funded from subscriptions and donations. Our policy is to provide as much free information as we can within copyright laws, but we are only able to do this through the generosity of our members and benefactors. Without them the Lincolnshire Post-Polio Network and this web site would not exist. See How to become a Member of the Lincolnshire Post-Polio Network for further information on membership and donations. We are also indebited to organisations and individual authors who have given us permission to reproduce their articles and papers.

What is PPS?

The following is a brief but concise overview of Post-Polio Syndrome. For an overview of medical terminology used to describe Post-Polio conditions see Terminology, also by the author of this overview. For articles and papers covering a range of post-polio medical conditions including PPS please call in at our Online Library

Post-Polio Syndrome, or PPS, is a name that has been adopted to indicate a constellation of NEW symptoms that occur an average of 31 years -- generally ranging from 20 to 40 years -- after the onset of the initial polio infection and after a period of "recovery" of at least 10 years.

These symptoms often include NEW weakness, pain, breathing and/or swallowing difficulties, a variety of sleep disorders, muscle twitching (known as "fasiculations"), gastrointestinal problems, muscle fatigue and/or "central" fatigue. And these symptoms can occur in previously-affected muscles and/or in what were previously thought to be muscles that were not affected at onset.

Complications often include neuropathies, nerve entrapments, arthritis, scoliosis, osteoporosis and, sometimes, additional atrophy -- known as Post-Polio Muscular Atrophy (PPMA).

There are no definitive tests to determine a diagnosis of PPS -- so it is done by history and ruling out other possible causes that mimic these symptoms. Those who were most affected by the virus at initial onset AND who made the best recovery seem to have the worst PPS symptoms later on.

And no certain cause for this condition has been found. There is known to be a failure at the neuromuscular junction -- and probably the most popularly-held theory is that nerves and/or muscles that have been "overworked" are failing prematurely.

There is also known to be an impairment in the production of various hormones and neurotransmitters -- but the cause of that reduction is also unknown: perhaps due to damage to the central nervous system done by the virus? Or lack of "normal" feedback now to the brain by nerves and/or muscles?

Onset of PPS is usually gradual, over a period of years -- but sometimes abrupt, with major losses of function suffered over several months or a couple of years. Onset often occurs after a physical or emotional trauma, illness or accident.

Tom Walter - A Polio Survivor

For several decades there has been a tendency to require a history of paralytic polio before any diagnosis of PPS will be considered. Such a pre-requisite is not supported by medical papers written in the 1950's and earlier that report evidence of a level of neuronal damage by the polio virus that does not present any clinical signs of paralysis at the time of infection. Hence, a history of non-paralytic polio does not preclude new PPS symptoms or a diagnosis of PPS when all other possible conditions have been excluded. For a detailed explanation read Non-Paralytic Polio and PPS by Marcia Falconer, Ph.D. cell biology and Eddie Bollenbach, M.A. biology.

The Lincolnshire Post-Polio Network
Registered Charity No. 1064177
An Information Service for Polio Survivors and Medical Professionals

The Lincolnshire Post-Polio Network takes great care in the transcription of all information that appears at this site. However, we do not accept liability for any damage resulting directly or otherwise from any errors introduced in the transcription. Neither do we accept liability for any damage resulting directly or otherwise from the information available at this site. The opinions expressed in the documents available at this site are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily constitute endorsement or approval by the Lincolnshire Post-Polio Network.

Document preparation: Chris Salter, Original Think-tank, Cornwall, United Kingdom.
Primary Document Reference: <URL:http://www.ott.zynet.co.uk/polio/lincolnshire/index1.html>
Alternate Document Reference: <URL:http://www.zynet.co.uk/ott/polio/lincolnshire/index1.html>
Last modification: 24th August 2009.
Last information content change: 25th August 2006.