Shared peer advice from polio survivors about what works for them.

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News about people who have made significant contributions to the disability community.

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Evaluation Suggestions

Brian Tiburzi

To evaluate for post-polio syndrome, one must establish that an individual had paralytic polio and that current symptoms are due to the aftereffects of the remote polio and not due to other medical, orthopedic, or neurologic conditions. A comprehensive evaluation is done by a physician with input from members of a health care team who are experienced in the assessment …

Muscle Power Evaluation And Therapeutic Chart (MPET Chart)

Brian Tiburzi

AN EFFECTIVE TOOL IN POST-POLIO MANAGEMENT Mahboon ur Rahman, Peshawar, Pakistan Brief Description of Work: Muscle power of polio-afflicted children were assisted and evaluated by Oxford Muscle Testing Chart. The chart as a diagnostic tool gives strength of muscles for the purpose of surgical interventions or physical regime. But the chart could not be used successfully as it focused only on …

Is weaning the appropriate goal?

Brian Tiburzi

Users of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) who choke, get pneumonia or have major surgery, and end up trached, many times are transferred either to a skilled nursing facility or to a long-term acute care hospital. They are told they can’t be discharged until they are weaned from the vent. Should complete weaning be the paramount goal, particularly when individuals have used …

Studying Sexual Activity and Chronic Illness

Brian Tiburzi

Deshae E. Lott, Bossier City, Louisiana (2006) The mysterious nature of the human body keeps us engaged scientifically as well as experientially. When our bodies veer from the known norms, it offers us more to explore, which can be both exciting and challenging. Sexuality rests among those fascinating and complicated aspects of human existence. Dr. Rosemary A. McInnes, Sex Therapist …

Respiratory Infections in Vent Users

Brian Tiburzi

At the 2010 Sleep and Breathing Symposium (Salk Institute for Biological Studies) Louis J Boitano, MS, RRT, RPFT (deceased) explained a protocol developed by John Bach, MD, and Yuka Ishikawa, MD, to reduce the potential for hospitalization due to respiratory infection. Boitano and Josh Benditt, MD, Northwest Assisted Breathing Center, University of Washington Medical Center, use this protocol with all of their …

Pflex® (my new friend) and More and Physician Response

Brian Tiburzi

Carol Wallace, MEd, Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, Austin, Texas I contracted polio in 1951 at age 5. Acute and rehabilitation hospitalization totaled two-and-a-half years with six months of iron lung treatment. Both my upper extremities and are paralyzed with only partial and weak right-hand motor function. As an adult, my forced vital capacity averages 48 percent. I require noninvasive mechanical ventilation …

Polio Survivor with Numbness

Brian Tiburzi

Post-Polio Health, Volume 27, Number 4, Fall 2011 Ask Dr. Maynard Frederick M. Maynard, MD Question: Do you know of any polio survivors who are experiencing numbness in their affected areas? I did some physical therapy recently for about six weeks using both sides of my body to improve the strength in my unaffected leg, and noticed that my left arm (the …