The polio virus causes an illness called poliomyelitis. The wild-type polio virus has been eradicated from the United States, and its incidence is also decreasing around the world, thanks to aggressive vaccination programs. There have been no...
Muscle twitches, also known as fasciculations, occur commonly in healthy people. Often these twitches have no known cause. Sometimes caffeine or stress can make them worse, as MedlinePlus explains. Twitches can come and go, and usually don't last...
Leg exercises for polio survivors are a controversial subject. On the one hand, there is a school of thought that polio survivors must exercise their polio-damaged legs to keep them from further deterioration. On the other hand, there are some...
Effective vaccines for the polio virus were introduced in the United States in 1955, ending national polio epidemics. A 2006 report prepared for the Post-Polio Health International organization estimated that 426,000 Americans are polio survivors....
Children have the natural desire and energy to go full-tilt all day long, so it's a cause for concern when your child complains of weakness or appears lethargic. See your doctor immediately when symptoms of weakness in the back and other major...
Polio is a disease caused by a virus that attacks cells in the central nervous system, often causing muscle paralysis. The disease was responsible for epidemics in America in the 1940s and early 1950s, when a successful polio vaccine was developed...
Post-polio syndrome causes new symptoms in polio survivors years after they recover from the poliomyelitis virus. These individuals notice new weakness in muscles, both in muscles that were previously affected and in those that apparently were...
The poliovirus refers to a contagious virus that lives only in humans, according to the Mayo Clinic. It is easily passed among people if they encounter infected mucus, sputum (mucus) or feces. Medline Plus states that this virus can enter the nose...
The polio virus is an extremely contagious microorganism known to cause paralysis and oftentimes death. Polio is an abbreviated term for the disease poliomyelitis. Three different strains of the polio virus exist, but not all forms of the virus...
Polio enters the human body through the mouth. According to the World Health Organization, the virus quickly replicates in the throat and intestines and then enters the bloodstream. The Smithsonian states that from the bloodstream the polio virus...
Bloating and backaches are common symptoms that affect everyone from time to time. While most underlying causes are not serious, in some cases, these symptoms may signal the presence of a medical issue that needs attention. If you experience...
Poliomyelitis, strictly speaking, cannot be cured outright. It's a viral infection, and viruses can typically only be treated with supportive care. While the best treatment is prevention--using a polio vaccine--symptom control is about all that...
Polio is a contagious virus that causes paralysis, difficulty breathing, and possibly death. Medline Plus, of the National Institutes of Health, states that the virus spreads by direct person-to-person contact, contact with infected mucus or...
Polio is a contagious virus that primarily causes paralysis, difficulty breathing and death. The Mayo Clinic reports that the last case of natural polio in the U.S. occurred in 1979. The polio vaccine is 90 percent effective in preventing...
Motor neuron diseases destroy the nerves that control muscles. Muscle control originates from the brain, and consists of nerve impulses that travel through two neurons to reach the muscles. The upper motor neuron starts in the brain and sends...
A loss of muscle tone and energy in a child is a clear warning sign that something's terribly wrong. A number of serious conditions may lead to weakness and muscle loss. Some of these conditions are easily treatable, while others represent a...
The polio virus is the causative agent of poliomyelitis, one of the most feared diseases of the twentieth century, responsible for crippling thousands of people across the globe, prior to distribution of a vaccine developed by Jonas Salk in the...
Many diseases can cause muscle spasms. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health or NIH, muscle spasms are an involuntary and sometimes painful contraction of skeletal muscles. The NIH states that...
Post-polio syndrome occurs years after a patient has been affected by the polio virus. Common symptoms of this condition include muscle weakness, tiredness and muscle atrophy. Symptoms may worsen if you do not use the muscles affected by...
People who had polio when they were children may develop a condition called post-polio syndrome when they get older. Those who get this condition become easily fatigued and have joint and muscle pain and weakness, as well as problems with...
Myocarditis is an infection of the heart muscle and can be caused by a number of viral and parasitic infections such as polio, rubella and certain strains of influenza. The symptoms of myocardia can resemble a normal case of the flu in its early...
Post-polio syndrome can strike polio survivors in the later years of life. The syndrome is characterized by a gradual weakening of polio-stricken muscles, along with muscle wasting and fatigue. Post-polio syndrome can also impact muscles that had...
Polio is caused by a virus that attacks nerve cells and sometimes produces muscle paralysis. It was once a common disease that reached a peak in the 1950s, according to MayoClinic.com. Vaccines were developed that are very effective, and few...
According to The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, motor neuron diseases are a group of progressive neurological disorders that destroy cells that control muscle activity, including speaking, walking, breathing, and...
Muscle aches, fatigue and shortness of breath are three symptoms that often present themselves concurrently and are common to a variety of disorders or illnesses. The seasonal flu is the most common cause of this triad of symptoms, but the root of...
Post polio syndrome affects people who survived polio infections many years ago. Post-polio affects each person differently, but common problems include muscle fatigue and loss of stamina. You may experience muscle and joint pain, or have trouble...
Polio is an illness causes by a virus that affects multiple systems of the body. Less serious cases of poliovirus infection may cause uneasiness, headache, sore throat or vomiting, and this milder form of polio, referred to as nonparalytic polio,...
Polio -- formerly called infantile paralysis -- is a viral disease. Polio virus, which usually infects children, multiplies in the intestinal tract and spreads by fecal contamination of food and water, especially where sanitation is poor. The...
From 1916 to 1955, an epidemic of the polio virus, or poliomyelitis, occurred in the United States. Twenty to 30 years later, some polio survivors began experiencing a cluster of symptoms, such as new and increased muscle weakness, fatigue and...