The Polio Paradox What You Need to Know

There are twenty million survivors of the polio epidemics that terrorized the world during the twentieth century. More than half are experiencing Post-Polio Sequelae (PPS), unexpected and disabling symptoms, including fatigue, muscle weakness, and chronic pain. Nobody knew their cause or how to treat them. Until now. Drawing on his two decades of research, Dr. Richard L. Bruno, the world's leading expert on PPS, unlocks one of the great medical mysteries of our time. His revolutionary, internationally acclaimed blueprint for emotional and physical well-being provides real solutions for polio survivors and anyone aging with a long-term disability. Dr. Bruno also describes the cause and treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome, myalgic encephalomyelitis, and fibromyalgia. The Polio Paradox reveals: The damage caused by the poliovirus that sets the stage for PPS symptoms; The Post-Polio Institute program that relieves symptoms, helps halt their progression, and increases patients' ability to function, whether they have PPS, chronic pain, or chronic fatigue; The emotional challenges as polio survivors fight the psychological trauma of the polio experience to cope with PPS; The treatment for newly identified PPS: sleep apnea, nighttime muscle twitching, hypoglycemia, and "post-polio belly". That undiagnosed childhood polio lurks silently behind the diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome in some adult baby boomers. Book jacket.