Post-Polio Health, Volume 27, Number 4, Fall 2011
Ask Dr. Maynard
Frederick M. Maynard, MD
Question: Do you know of any polio survivors who are experiencing numbness in their affected areas? I did some physical therapy recently for about six weeks using both sides of my body to improve the strength in my unaffected leg, and noticed that my left arm (the affected side) was becoming numb and then later in the day, my left leg would also become numb (just the top part of my arm and leg).
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Carol Wallace, MEd, Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, Austin, Texas
I contracted polio in 1951 at age 5. Acute and rehabilitation hospitalization totaled two-and-a-half years with six months of iron lung treatment. Both my upper extremities and are paralyzed with only partial and weak right-hand motor function. As an adult, my forced vital capacity averages 48 percent. I require noninvasive mechanical ventilation whenever supine.
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At the 2010 Sleep and Breathing Symposium (Salk Institute for Biological Studies) Louis J Boitano, MS, RRT, RPFT (deceased) explained a protocol developed by John Bach, MD, and Yuka Ishikawa, MD, to reduce the potential for hospitalization due to respiratory infection. Boitano and Josh Benditt, MD, Northwest Assisted Breathing Center, University of Washington Medical Center, use this protocol with all of their neuromuscular patients who have respiratory limitations.
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Deshae E. Lott, Bossier City, Louisiana (2006)
The mysterious nature of the human body keeps us engaged scientifically as well as experientially. When our bodies veer from the known norms, it offers us more to explore, which can be both exciting and challenging. Sexuality rests among those fascinating and complicated aspects of human existence.
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Users of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) who choke, get pneumonia or have major surgery, and end up trached, many times are transferred either to a skilled nursing facility or to a long-term acute care hospital. They are told they can't be discharged until they are weaned from the vent. Should complete weaning be the paramount goal, particularly when individuals have used NIV successfully in the past?
Charles W. Atwood, Jr, MD, FCCP, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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There is no official certification for a “polio doctor.” The most common use of this informal designation is a physician with knowledge, experience and interest in evaluation and treatment of polio survivors.
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AN EFFECTIVE TOOL IN POST-POLIO MANAGEMENT
Mahboon ur Rahman, Peshawar, Pakistan
Brief Description of Work: Muscle power of polio-afflicted children were assisted and evaluated by Oxford Muscle Testing Chart. The chart as a diagnostic tool gives strength of muscles for the purpose of surgical interventions or physical regime.
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To evaluate for post-polio syndrome, one must establish that an individual had paralytic polio and that current symptoms are due to the aftereffects of the remote polio and not due to other medical, orthopedic, or neurologic conditions. A comprehensive evaluation is done by a physician with input from members of a health care team who are experienced in the assessment and management of individuals who have neuromuscular diseases and/or functional limitations.
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