Polio And Its Affects On The Limbs

Surviving polio is not easy. Unfortunately, due to various superstitions surrounding the humans on the social front, this disease could not be made extinct and still plagues the environment. It affects the humans at an early age of 1 - 3 years and the symptoms are similar to that of cold, with the only difference that the limbs start to pain which mainly include legs, neck, back etc. A child may experience high fever which is lasting in nature thus making it mandatory to get him/ her admitted in the hospital.

Luckily, the medical system has advanced enough to successfully test the presence of the polio virus in any human. A simple blood or fecal test is enough to estimate the levels of polio virus in the body which is sufficient in diagnosis. If the levels are significantly high, the patient is said to be suffering from polio. The extent of polio infection depends solely on the amount of quantity present. Results of this disease may lead to partial paralysis with one or more body parts being affected. If one looks at the history of this disease, it would not be hard to find cases of people so severely affected that they either died or had to live rest of their lives on a wheel chair. Sadly, these numbers are not dime a dozen but range in thousands which clearly states the potential of disaster polio has and can cause in the future.

Because this disease affects a child in infancy when the different body parts are in their growing stages, the future may be dull. Since the beginning of their lives, they are not able to stand on their feet and remain so. The limbs are not able to grow due to failure of the nerve cells in the affected region. Even if they do grow, the extent of growth is not equivalent to the normal growth levels. After a certain period of time, one may get the affected muscles elongated which would make them equivalent to the normal size thus enabling the patient to walk again. However, it is not easy. It is a painful process and requires constant therapy. Massage and electrical treatments become a part of the regular routines until sufficient amounts of movements are not seen.

As you might have guessed, in order for both the limbs to remain of the same size, multiple operations may have to be undergone during the complete growth period. This may be expensive and un tolerable for some but is the only way to remain in perfect health. Once the nervous system has been affected, there is not much that can be done. Nervous are directly connected to the brain and without them, any communication between the two become impossible. It is the brain which sends electrical signals to the various body parts with the help of these cells thus causing movement.

Not taking this disease seriously can hamper the life of the patient with no hopes of recovery. Those who have suffered the wrath of this disease would easily vouch for that.