Polio

Pappy said:
It is caused by a virus, poliovirus, and is very contagious. Young children are more apt to get it as it can be transfered through human feces. It attacks ones brain or spinal cord and affects the nervous system. Lungs and legs are often affected.
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I'm wondering the sources of these viruses, I guess I'm thinking to somehow eliminate them before they can get into our bodies. You can tell I never did so well with a chemistry set. I did learn I could be a demolitionist, but I didn't like the mess.
 

Viruses seem to have their own life cycle they show up and cause their harm and just as fast disappear they don't know why. They refer to this as a bell shape curve. All the vaccines have shown up when the the virus is almost over and then try and take credit for stopping it.
 
d0ug said:
Viruses seem to have their own life cycle they show up and cause their harm and just as fast disappear they don't know why. They refer to this as a bell shape curve. All the vaccines have shown up when the the virus is almost over and then try and take credit for stopping it.
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This may or may not be so, but not all viruses behave this may. Namely the Ebola Virus, which is deadly almost 100% of the time. Then there is Rabies and Smallpox, also very dangerous viruses. And of course the good old flu.
 

That is a most interesting thought QS, where do they go? If their airborne, that's where they are, right?? If their not, then do they just sit on something solid maybe?
 
All is I can say is that the people I know with polio can be overly cautious at times. Part of the fear with polio patients is that if they fatigue muscles and nervous system they wear it out faster. But the effect of being sedentary seems to out pace the effects of polio itself which is still eventually unstoppable. This means do what ever you can for fitness/mobility especially. Anything to avoid arthritis or joints fusing together and physical therapy for non affected areas. If upper body is OK do just enough pt to avoid injury because over use of the upper body can cause injury or RMIs. Also any nutrients for nerve tissue might help or stave off eventually nerve damage. Many say B vitamins and potassium are good for the nerves. Not too many docs even want to deal with polio patients. They use decades old approaches to these patients frequently robbing them of valuable years.
 
QuickSilver said:
Where do viruses go in between breakouts? Who knows... but rest assured.. they are around waiting for an opportunity in an non-immune host.
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You are right. Most viruses do not go dormant. They are carried by hosts that have been protected or are immune. However, the more hosts there are the higher likelihood that someone unprotected will be infected and the virus will be able to do its nasty job. Magic Johnson would be a good example of this. He has the HIV virus, which causes AIDS, but does not have the disease. For whatever reason, his immune system, along with taking the same drugs as a person with AIDS, has protected him, but if he were to have sex with an unprotected person then that person may acquire the disease, or becomes another host, or have nothing at all change in his/her body. I guess that you could say that it's a crap shoot.

Like I have stated many times here, I am a certified substance abuse counselor. A few months ago, I met a 14 year old female child that contracted AIDS by sharing a needle with an AIDS patient. The patient knew he had the disease and yet still passed the needle to this 14 year old female. He was arrested by the Philadelphia police. How this will all end up is anyone's guess. BTW, there is a lot more to this story, but I tried to keep it short.
 
That makes sense... since most of us who have had chicken pox still carry the virus in the nerve fibers at the base of our spines... just waiting patiently for our immunity to decline.. then we get shingles.
 

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