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Can You Help?
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Children of Polio Survivors
Post-Polio Health International (PHI) has received several emails (such as those below) from children of polio survivors with various health problems (for example, joint problems or back pains or undiagnosed weaknesses), and the question always is ... "Are my health problems caused by my parent's polio?" Some have noted that their mothers had polio during pregnancy with them.
Lauro S. Halstead, MD, Director of the Post-Polio Program at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, DC, and member of PHI's Medical Advisory Committee, answers:
"I know of no study that indicates there is a connection. To the contrary, we know that mothers who got polio when pregnant did not pass on the virus to their children. Some viruses cross the placental barrier, but polio is not one of them."
ITEM CYH604
I just wanted to ask a question. I am searching for a Cynthia Hull (name of person in 1963). She is my birth mother. She lived in or near Clinton Iowa in 1963. She had polio. I was told that at the time she was a paraplegic and in a wheel chair from polio. Do you have anyone in your groups with this name or anyone that knows of her? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Lisa C., Bettendorf, Iowa, LISAJCHANDLER@aol.com, posted 11-07
ITEM CYH603
I am wondering if there is anyone else out there who is the child of a polio survivor and was either born prior to when the parent had polio or shortly afterwards? If so, I would like to be in touch with you. I am interested in conversing about the experience of growing up with a parent who had polio.
Stephanie, Massachusetts, stmachell@mindspring.com, posted 12-05
ITEM CYH602
My mom had polio as a child and my sister and I both suffer from some fatigue and neurological problems. I was tested for Lupus this year but tests were negative. I have wondered if there could possibly be a connection with Mom's polio. I'd be interested to know if there has been any research done of children whose parents had polio.
Marla B., mblevins54@hotmail.com, posted 8-04
ITEM CYH601
My name is Kathi. I suffer from a spinal disease called an arachnoid cyst. This cyst is considered to be in a family of spinal diseases such as syringomyelia, a crippling pocket of spinal fluid that forms on the spine. In some conversations on our website (www.asap4sm.com), we have coincidentally found that many of our parents had polio. Our question is, has anyone ever done a study of children of polio survivors? We were curious if there was some evidence of rare diseases handed down to children of parents who survived polio. Thank you for any info you may have.
Kathi K., Kathi1211@aol.com, posted 5-04
ITEM CYH600, Posted 5-04
Renee C. of Marinette, Wisconsin, a public health nurse, also wonders if there is a any research being done of children whose parents had polio. She is having chronic fatigue and other neurological problems and wonders if there is a connection.
Respond to webmaster@post-polio.org.
Response:
I happened to be doing research on the internet about fibromyalgia, a condition that both my sister and I have been diagnosed over the last couple of years along with other neurological disorders. I am currently 48 years old and my sister is 45. I don't know anything about this correlation but our mother became lame with polio around 1940 at around the age of 12. Since that time her left lower leg and foot have withered even more. She suffers from chronic fatigue herself and we had a childhood in which our mother was in bed a lot, too tired to look after us 4 children. Chronic fatigue was not diagnosed as early as the 1960's but we certainly remember that she was at her worse. We wonder if there is a correlation between our mother's polio and our neurological disorders too.
Darlene T., ashawna@nucleus.com, posted 9-04
Response: Posted 11-29-05
My mom suffered polio when she was 9 in 1940. She survived and went on to have eight children. Each of us has had unusual, chronic disorders and we've wondered if Mom's polio may have affected her reproductive system. Among us, we have one child who has gone blind, one who has had three brain aneurysms (that they said went back to childhood), mitral valve prolapse, factor vi leiden, unexplained vertigo and epilepsy. If there has been a study, I would think eight adults subjects of this type would be a help to those looking for clues. Suzanne
Response: Chronic pain, side effect of medication, etc. Weakness is considered to be the hallmark symptom of post-polio syndrome. Read more ...