The article below is one emailed to us from the Polio Task Force that we receive periodically.  There is a lot of information on post polio available now on the Internet.  Check out the WA website too.

TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FOR TREATING POST-POLIO SEQUELAE by Richard L.Bruno
Q.    If the accepted theory of post-polio muscle weakness is that our motor neurons are dying, why do I improve with rest after having a period of severe weakness when I overdo it?  Even though I can become completely lame, the loss is temporary if I rest up for a day or a week.
A.  You're describing a symptom that PPS researchers have totally ignored: "transient weakness."  We call it "Holiday Syndrome."  Polio survivors complain that their muscles become significantly weaker in December, after they have done too much Christmas shopping, but have strength return in January after they rest.
 
But something dangerous is happening to cause the transient weakness of "Holiday Syndrome." Remember that the poliovirus killed off at least 50% of our motor neurons.  The neurons that weren't killed were damaged by the poliovirus but were able to sprout -- send out extra "telephone lines" -- to talk to the muscle fibres that were orphaned when their motor neurons died.

After polio you were left with less than half of your motor neurons--neurons that not only are over-sprouted, but also have cell bodies that are smaller than normal, have damaged protein-making "factories," and have been severely overworked for the past 50 years.  When you experience transient weakness we think you have overloaded your neurons' protein-making factories and drained their reserves.

After you rest, the neurons' protein supply increases and you are able to use your muscles again.  But every time you drain your motor neurons, we think you are doing damage that eventually causes permanent weakness as the drained neurons die.

Think of what would happen to your car battery if you left the headlights on every night.  You get up the first morning and your battery is flat.  You jump-start the battery and drive off.  The next night you leave the lights on, jump-start the battery again, and drive away.  But after about a week the battery will no longer take a charge and you won't be driving anywhere!

Canadian PPS researcher Alan McComas found that polio survivors who are getting weaker over time lose 7% of their motor neurons per year, that's 7% on top of the 50% they have already lost!  Prevent transient weakness -- and permanent weakness -- by resting before your muscles become weak, let alone become completely lame.  Remember:  You can replace your car's battery but you can't replace your motor neurons. So give yourself a holiday gift that keeps on giving: Save those neurons!

Dr. Richard Bruno is Chairperson of the International Post-Polio Task Force and Director of The Post-Polio Institute and International Centre for Post-Polio Education and Research at Englewood (NJ) Hospital and Medical Centre.  His new book, THE POLIO PARADOX: UNCOVERING THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF POLIO TO UNDERSTAND AND TREAT "POST-POLIO SYNDROME" AND CHRONIC FATIGUE, published by Warner Books.
 
E-mail questions to him at PolioParadox@aol.com
 

This is a phenomenon familiar to many polio people I'm sure.  But this is only half of the story.    The work we have been doing here in WA on carnitine, magnesium and other essential nutrients explains how we can avoid getting into these situations that cause permanent damage.  If the body has all the raw ingredients it needs for normal physiological function we can use nerves and muscles to a greater degree without causing damage.    Polio survivors need high serum carnitine levels so that muscle cells can top up again quickly from the blood during exercise as their muscles are working twice as fast as non-polio people who still have all their muscles.  Magnesium is needed to allow muscle relaxation after it has contracted, so that it can be primed quickly to be able to work again sooner.  We still have to work within our limitations though and not overdo energy expenditure.  Applying biochemistry to normal physiology to see where it is breaking down, provides us with the answers for post polio.         Tessa Jupp RN