Facts about Polio/PostPolio:

• Polio is a neurologic illness that lasts a lifetime, a chronic disorder that manifests its late effects throughout the entire body without regard to the type of polio originally diagnosed or the extent of acute polio residual or recovery.
• Worldwide there are 20 million polio survivors, seven percent of the world's population.
• In North America there are an estimated 1.8 million polio survivors, and half are in their forties, fifties and sixties. (Compared to the 2000 U.S. Census, that 1.8 million is more than double the population of the county of San Francisco.)
• As early as 1875 medical literature reported cases of polio's late effects, but medical treatment and proper management of those effects were unknown until the last two decades.
• Polio's late effects occur in at least 75% of paralytic and 40% of non-paralytic polio survivors about 15-60 years after the poliovirus attack.
• Only about 20% of medical providers presently have knowledge about postpolio.

SFBAPS 2003 Survey Results

• Medical Care Received by Polios Before Polio Support Group Contact
• Co-morbidities Experienced By Polio Respondents
• Rating of "Topics" Polio Survivors Want Addressed At Sept. 19, 2003 Conference

Information about the Late Effects of Polio
http://www.post-polio.org/ipn/aboutlep.html
... for polio survivors   ... for families and friends   ... for health professionals

POLIOMYELITIS, PARALYTIC, VACCINE ASSOCIATED.
Reported cases, by year -- United States, 1972-2002
http://www.post-polio.org/ipn/ir-usa.html

The Late Effects of Polio: An Overview
http://www.post-polio.org/ipn/lep.html

Polio & Post-Polio Fact Sheet ©
http://www.post-polio.org/ipn/fact.html

Poliomyelitis and the epidemics ...
Acute poliomyelitis in the world today ...
The late effects of poliomyelitis ...

POST-POLIO SEQUELAE: True Answers for Friends and Family
By Dr. Richard L. Bruno ftp://members.aol.com/harvestctr/Library/ff.html


EXERCISE
A Statement about Exercise for Survivors of Polio ... Written by the Medical Advisory Committee of Post-Polio Health International and endorsed by 29 post-polio experts.
http://www.post-polio.org/ipn/pnn19-2A.html#sta

ANESTHESIA
Summary of Anesthesia Issues for Post-Polio Patients... Selma H. Calmes, MD, Olive View/UCLA Medical Center, provides cautionary advice for polio survivors.
http://www.post-polio.org/ipn/anes.html

PULMONARY/BREATHING
Information about Ventilator-Assisted Living© This is a brief explanation of mechanical ventilation and an introduction to ventilator-assisted living – what this treatment means to your health and your lifestyle.
http://www.post-polio.org/ivun/about_val_1.html

Social Security:
1) Explains the two programs (SSDI & SSI) providing benefits for disability http://www.post-polio.org/ipn/hbsocsec.html
2) Full text of Social Security Administration's July 1st, 2003, ruling about criteria for PPS conditions, DI 24580.010 Evaluation of the Postpolio Sequelae.
http://www.post-polio.org/ipn/di245801.html

PAIN
PostPolio Pain: Causes & Management
Dr. Carol Vandenakker's presentation May 2002 to SFBAPS, printed in SFBAPS June 2002 Newsletter.

DEPRESSION AND PPS
SFBAPS March 2004 Newsletter

STEM CELL THERAPY FOR PPS
http://www.skally.net/ppsc/stem.html

SHOULDERS
Save our Shoulders: A guide for Polio Survivors (Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, Albert Einstein Medical Center, 1994) www.einstein.edu/polioandmobility