Study Raises Doubts About FDR's Polio

[kskiska]

The disease that struck Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the prime of his life may not have been polio, as his doctors and history have believed. An analysis out Friday suggests that Roosevelt, whose work on behalf of polio patients gave rise to the March of Dimes, instead may have had Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a disease barely known by doctors of the day.

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston reviewed Roosevelt's personal letters, medical reports and biographies that described the disease that FDR had in 1921 when he was 39. Armond Goldman, emeritus professor of pediatrics, and colleagues note that some of FDR's symptoms were rare in polio, but fit a diagnosis of Guillain-Barré (GHEE-yan BAH-ray), an autoimmune disease that damages motor and sensory nerves.

Their diagnosis, in the Journal of Medical Biography, published by The Royal Society of Medicine in London, is based on an analysis that examined the frequency of paralytic polio and Guillain-Barré in adults of Roosevelt's age at that time and the likelihood of his symptoms occurring in either of the two diseases.

The paralysis that crept up both sides of FDR's body from legs to chest over a 10- to 13-day period is more typical of Guillain-Barré than polio, in which weakness or paralysis occur in a matter of three to five days and affect one side more than the other. The authors point out that at the time of FDR's infection, polio was rampant, but it rarely struck anyone over age 30. FDR also suffered temporary facial paralysis, bladder and bowel problems and severe sensitivity to touch, none of which were common in polio.

more…
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-10-30-fdr-usat_x.htm

[otohara]

1. I Have Polio and I Have Heard

that people who had really mild cases of polio now suffer from Guillain-Barre or Chronic Fatigue.

I've been diagnosed with Post-polio syndrome, which in my opinon is probably a combo of GB & CFS. The onset of PPS is aprox. 30 years after contracting polio, with me, it was exactly 30 years.

What ever it is, it totally sucks.

[Pastiche423]

2. Have you ever been tested

for GB or CFS?

I have Hemiplegia, Epilepsy and Lupus. Aside from the paralysis, my symptons are very similar to CB. .

[otohara]

3. No

What ever they call it, I have it - one of my docs said I had fybromalgia - tells me it's the same thing as PPS. No it is not.