IMPORTANT NOTES FOR NEW READERS
Offsite Articles Index
Articles referenced below were freely accessible at the time they were added
to this section. Journal or web site access policies may change as time passes
and articles can revert to fee-based access either through journal subscription
or individual article reprint fees.
- "A
calculated risk": the Salk polio vaccine field trials of 1954
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7167/1233
- Author(s): Marcia Meldrum, DeWitt Stetten memorial fellow
in the history of the biomedical sciences.
Article Location: British Medical Journal
Reference: BMJ 1998;317:1233-1236 ( 31 October )
Summary: The polio vaccine field trials of 1954, sponsored
by the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (March of Dimes), are among
the largest and most publicised clinical trials ever undertaken. Across the
United States, 623 972 schoolchildren were injected with vaccine or placebo,
and more than a million others participated as "observed" controls. The results,
announced in 1955, showed good statistical evidence that Jonas Salk's killed
virus preparation was 80-90% effective in preventing paralytic poliomyelitis.
The statistical design used in this great experiment was singular, prompting
criticism at the time and since. Eighty four test areas in 11 states used
the textbook model: in a randomised, blinded design all participating children
in the first three grades of school (ages 6-9) received injections of either
vaccine or placebo and were observed for evidence of the disease. But 127
test areas in 33 states used an "observed control" design: participating
children in the second grade (ages 7-8) received injections of vaccine;
no placebo was given, and children in all three grades were then observed
for the duration of the polio "season."
The use of the dual protocol illustrates both the power and the limitations
of the randomised clinical trial to legitimate therapeutic claims. The placebo
controlled trials were necessary to define the Salk vaccine introduced by
a lay organisation that has taken an activist position against the counsel
of its virological advisersas the product of scientific medicine. The observed
control trials were essential to maintaining public support for the vaccine
as the product of lay faith and investment in science. Here I examine the
process by which the trial design was negotiated and the roles of the several
actors.
![[ Index ]](../buttons/rwindex.gif)
- Dynamic
water exercise in individuals with late poliomyelitis
http://www.archives-pmr.org/article/PIIS0003999301413591/fulltext
was http://www.archives-pmr.org/scripts/om.dll/serve?action=searchDB&searchDBfor=art&artType=full&id=aapmr0820066
A PDF version is also available.
- Author(s): Willen C, Sunnerhagen KS, Grimby G.
Article Location: Archives
of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
Reference: Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2001 Jan;82(1):66-72.
Abstract/Summary: Willen C, Stibrant Sunnerhagen K, Grimby
G. Dynamic water exercise in individuals with late poliomyelitis. Arch Phys
Med Rehabil 2001;82:66-72.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the specific effects of general dynamic water exercise
in individuals with late effects of poliomyelitis.
DESIGN: Before-after tests.
SETTING: A university hospital department.
PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-eight individuals with late effects of polio, 15 assigned
to the training group (TG) and 13 to the control group (CG).
INTERVENTION: The TG completed a 40-minute general fitness training session
in warm water twice weekly. Assessment instruments included the bicycle ergometer
test, isokinetic muscle strength, a 30-meter walk indoors, Berg balance scale,
a pain drawing, a visual analog scale, the Physical Activity Scale for the
Elderly, and the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP).
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Peak load, peak work load, peak oxygen uptake, peak
heart rate (HR), muscle function in knee extensors and flexors, and pain dimension
of the NHP.
RESULTS: The average training period was 5 months; compliance was 75% (range,
55-98). No negative effects were seen. The exercise did not influence the
peak work load, peak oxygen uptake, or muscle function in knee extensors compared
with the controls. However, a decreased HR at the same individual work load
was seen, as well as a significantly lower distress in the dimension pain
of the NHP. Qualitative aspects such as increased well-being, pain relief,
and increased physical fitness were reported.
CONCLUSIONS: A program of nonswimming dynamic exercises in heated water has
a positive impact on individuals with late effects of polio, with a decreased
HR at exercise, less pain, and a subjective positive experience. The program
was well tolerated (no adverse effects were reported) and can be recommended
for this group of individuals.
Copyright 2001 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the
American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
![[ Index ]](../buttons/rwindex.gif)
- Linking Evidence and Experience: Characteristics and Management of Postpolio
Syndrome
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/extract/284/4/412
was http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v284n4/full/jct00011.html
This article is no longer freely accessible, subscription
to JAMA being required.
- Author(s): Burk Jubelt, MD; James C. Agre, MD.
Published: JAMA Vol. 284 No. 4, July 26, 2000.
Introduction: Postpolio syndrome (PPS) refers to new, late
manifestations occurring many years after acute poliomyelitis infection. Over
the last 25 years, PPS has become a relatively common problem encountered
by primary care physicians. A 1987 National Health Interview Survey estimated
that about half of the 640,000 survivors of paralytic poliomyelitis in the
United States had new late manifestations of PPS. Subsequent studies in the
1990s have found the occurrence of PPS among patients with previous poliomyelitis
to range from 28.5% to 64%. The average time in various reports from the acute
poliomyelitis until the onset of PPS is about 35 years, with a range from
8 to 71 years. However, it is unclear if the occurrence of PPS increases with
aging, which may be the case based on the most accepted etiologic hypothesis.
The large number of PPS cases presently being seen is probably due to the
poliomyelitis epidemics of the 1940s and 1950s.
![[ Index ]](../buttons/rwindex.gif)
- Post-Polio
Research: The State of the Art, 1998
http://newmobility.com/review_article.cfm?id=93&action=browse
was http://www.newmobility.com/query/magazine/articledetail.cfm?date=april-98&recID=93
- Also reproduced in Issue No.10
- March 1998 of LINC-PIN
Author: Richard Louis Bruno
Published: New Mobility
Magazine, April 1998
"For researchers studying post-polio sequelae (PPS) -- the disabling fatigue,
muscle weakness and pain experienced by 76 percent of polio survivors decades
after the virus has come and gone -- 1997 was a year of discovery. Some
of the new findings are disappointing, and others are even disturbing. But
new understanding from this research will become the platform for future
treatments, so there's every reason for survivors to keep themselves well-informed."
The article goes on to discuss the following: Brain Waves and Fatigue,
IGF-1 and Pyridostigmine, Magnets for Pain, The Damage
Done, Typically Type A, Abuse, Then and Now and Treatment
of Choice.
![[ Index ]](../buttons/rwindex.gif)
- Post-polio
syndrome [under Motor Neuron Disorders (Asymmetric)]
http://www.neuro.wustl.edu/neuromuscular/motor.html#pps
- Summary list of Diagnostic Criteria, Laboratory features and Recommended
exercise.
![[ Index ]](../buttons/rwindex.gif)
- Polio, sequale
following paralysis [under Motor neuronopathies]
http://svt.ee.tut.fi/korpinen/emg11.htm#d
Currently Unavailable 
- Summary list of Etiology, Clinical features, Strategy, Expected abnormal
findings, Expected Normal findings and Procedure. Part of a section beginning
with Amyotrophic laterals sclerosis (ALS) and ending with Bulbar hereditary
motor neuronopathy (Fazio-Londe's disease).
From the expert electromyographer
Björn Falck - Erik Stålberg - Leena Korpinen
![[ Index ]](../buttons/rwindex.gif)
It is the intention of the Lincolnshire Post-Polio Network to make
all the information we collect available regardless of our views as to it's
content. The listing of a article from another site should not therefore in
any way be interpreted as an endorsement. Nor can we guarantee accessability
of other sites.
People who had polio and are experiencing new symptoms need to be assessed
by medical professionals who are experienced in Post-Polio to determine what
is wrong and to give correct advice. We can only make this information available
to you. YOU must then take what you believe to be relevant
to the medical professional you are seeing. We are collecting and collating
everything we can to enable medical professionals to make informed decisions.
Other medical conditions must be looked for first, Post-Polio Syndrome is by
diagnosis of exclusion.
![[ Index ]](../buttons/rwindex.gif)
![[ Reception ]](../buttons/newbrecpt.gif)
![[ Library ]](../buttons/newblibr.gif)
![[ Networking ]](../buttons/newbnetw.gif)
![[ Directory ]](../buttons/newbdir.gif)
![[ What's New? ]](../buttons/newbwn.gif)
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.
© Copyright The Lincolnshire Post-Polio Network 1997 - 2009.
Document preparation: Chris Salter, Original
Think-tank, Cornwall, United Kingdom.
Primary Document Reference: <URL:http://www.ott.zynet.co.uk/polio/lincolnshire/library/offsite.html>
Secondary Document Reference: <URL:http://www.zynet.co.uk/ott/polio/lincolnshire/library/offsite.html>
Last modification: 9th May 2009.
Last information content change: 19th May 2009.