Guillain Barre Syndrome

SnuggaponyKelly

Guillain-Barré Syndrome is a rare medical condition
that affects the nerves outside a person's brain
and spinal cord. Although the condition can be
frightening because it often causes people to have
some type of paralysis, Guillain-Barré syndrome is
very rare. It only affects one or two people in
every 100,000. Most of the people who do get
Guillain-Barré syndrome recover and are able to
return to their normal lives and activities.

What Is Guillain-Barré Syndrome?
Experts believe that Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS)
is an autoimmune disorder. Autoimmune disorders
happen when
the immune system, which usually protects a person
by attacking any invading organisms that may harm
the body, mistakes the body's own cells for
foreign material and begins to attack them.
Guillain-Barré can affect people of any age, but
it becomes more common with increasing age.

The nerves just outside the brain and spinal cord
are called the peripheral nerves. They transmit
signals to our muscles telling them to move. When
GBS causes these nerves to be temporarily damaged,
the signals are interrupted. As a result, a person
with GBS may become unable to walk, talk, or even
make basic movements like lifting an arm.

GBS is rare, but it can get serious: If the
muscles in a person's chest are affected, for
example, it may interfere with the ability to
breathe and require the person to use a respirator
for a while. The good news is that the paralysis
that goes with GBS is usually temporary.


What Causes It?
Although no one knows what causes GBS, scientists
do have some theories about the syndrome and why
it surfaces in the body. For example, doctors
report that about half of all GBS cases seem to
occur after a viral or bacterial infection like
a sore throat or diarrhea. Some experts believe
the infection somehow changes the cells of the
nervous system so that they don't work properly.
In about 5 or 10 of all cases of GBS, the
person had minor surgery or another medical
procedure before the GBS symptoms occurred.

There's no reason to worry that a typical sore
throat or a medical test is going to trigger an
autoimmune response and lead to GBS, though.
Colds, sore throats and the occasional bout of
diarrhea are fairly predictable parts of
everyone's lives; getting GBS, thankfully, is not.

What Are the Signs and Symptoms?
When GBS does strike, though, it can progress
quickly, with the most severe symptoms taking
place as soon as 2 weeks after the first signs
appear. The first symptoms, such as weakness or
tingling in the legs, can show up within a day.
These sensations can then spread to the arms and
upper body, and the person may feel increasingly
tired. Sometimes, the person with GBS also begins
to lose his or her reflexes (for example, the
person may not have the knee jerk reaction that
happens when a doctor tests reflexes).

In the most severe cases of Guillain-Barré
syndrome, the symptoms continue to increase until
certain muscles become completely paralyzed. At
this stage, the paralysis can interfere with
breathing and heart functions, so a person usually
has to go to the hospital. It seems frightening,
but even at this stage doctors expect most people
to recover completely.


[edit] Source http://kidshealth.org/teen/diseases_conditions/bones/gbs.html - Guan Yin


I was diagnosed with this in 2006. I'm 95% recovered now.

I just thought I would start this for people who have been diagnosed with it and need support.

GuanYin

Can you please post a reference from the source of this material?

SnuggaponyKelly

I cant sorry, I got it a long time ago and can't remember where I got it from. why?