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"   Question As a child I had polio aged four years.  The illness left me weaker on the right side and affected my lungs.  I recovered well to be a very active sporty person but during the 1990&amp;#039;s I began to feel exhausted.  My right side is painful and my back is hunching on the right side. I have heard of the post-polio syndrome but I am unable to find details of it.  My doctors are not conversant with the issue.   Answer I needed to look this up and found a useful article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). It seems that there is evidence of a post-polio syndrome (PPS) that can affect polio survivors anywhere from 10 to 40 years after an initial attack by the poliomyelitis virus.  It is characterised by further weakening of muscles previously affected by polio infection. Fatigue, slowly progressive muscle weakness and, on occasions, muscle atrophy, skeletal deformity and joint pain, can occur.  It has a slow and unpredictable course that is only very rarely life-threatening. At the moment it seems to be a poorly understood condition with some variety in the views offered by experts. It is claimed that between 25 and 50 percent of polio survivors can be affected.  Some think that the disease process involves the death of over-stretched motor neurones (nerve cells) that have compensated for the loss of others caused by the initial polio infection.  The condition is not caused by any sort of persistent infection. The diagnosis can only be made by a specialist offering thorough neurological examination, objective assessments of muscle strength, and investigations to exclude other neurological conditions.  It is probable that a specialist would need to assess the condition on several occasions. There does not appear to be an established treatment at the moment, but the future of research around PPS treatment is thought to centre on chemicals called nerve growth factors.  However, they are only experimental at the moment. If you think your symptoms fit with the diagnosis, my advice would be to ask if you could be referred to a neurologist for further assessment. Yours sincerely The NetDoctor Medical Team  Other Qs &amp;amp;amp; As Antibiotics and vaccines Can adults get mumps Can an inner ear infection damage my brain? Can collidial silver cure molluscum? Can I drink while taking antibiotics? Can I drink whilst taking amoxicillin? Could I have psitticosis? Czech tick \u2013 what is this insect buried in my leg? Do I have to take antibiotics against cystitis? Does doxycycline affect hearing? Enlargements around the neck Erythema mulitforme \u2013 cause and prevention Have I got bedbugs? Homeopathic treatments for verrucas How long does a BCG last? I want to live in India, but I&amp;#039;ve had a spleenectomy. Long term antibiotics after spleen operation Laporoscopy stitches not healing properly Painful reaction with travel jabs Receding gums Recurrent infections under my fingertips Should I get a hepatitis vaccination? Should my father have his wrists fused? Stubborn verrucas Throat infections for four months \u2013 what can I do? Treating persistent giardia What are the early signs of BSE? What are the long-term consequences of a splenectomy? What is a pilonidal sinus? What is ESR? What is giardia infection? What is giardia lamblia? What is phlebitis? What is slapped cheek disease? What issues surround rubella in the middle aged? What would raised blood urea nitrogen be like? What&amp;#039;s the difference between pneumonia and pleurisy? Which vaccinations should I have? Who&amp;#039;s got the worm? Why is my stepson passing blood in his urine? Why haven&amp;#039;t I responded to the hepatitis B vaccine? Will L-lysine ease my cold sores? Yellow fever  Last updated 24.02.2015 "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/ask-the-expert/infections/a5475/post-polio-syndrome/>