Instances of Guillain–Barré syndrome are rare, afflicting only about 1 in every 100,000 people. Guillain–Barré syndrome occurs where the body's immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system; in other words, the nervous system outside the brain and spinal cord. Scientists do not know why some people are more prone to the syndrome.
As it is not clear that a disease-causing agent is responsible for the symptoms patients experience, scientists prefer to label this illness a syndrome rather than disease.
Symptoms of Guillain–Barré Syndrome
Early symptoms of the syndrome include tingling sensations and weakness in the legs which spread upwards to the arms and upper body. In severe cases patients may be paralyzed and in mortal danger due to interference with breathing, blood pressure and heart rate.
From the time of the first symptoms appearing, patients normally experience the greatest weakness by the third week. These times vary, as clinical manifestations of the illness may take hours, days or weeks to progress. Due to several other disorders with similar symptoms, doctors may experience difficulty in diagnosing Guillain–Barré syndrome in the early stages.
Normally weakness and tingling sensations manifest rather quickly in both sides of the body. Reflexes such as knee jerks are usually slower or lost. The cerebrospinal fluid surrounding the spinal cord and brain contains elevated levels of protein, which may be established by doing a spinal tap.
What Causes Guillain–Barré Syndrome?
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the body's immune system starts attacking the body itself. This is called an autoimmune disease. When the onset of the syndrome is preceded by a viral or bacterial infection (such as a sore throat or diarrhea), scientists believe the virus may have changed the nature of the cells in the nervous system causing the immune system to treat them as foreign cells – hence the attack.
Guillain–Barré syndrome causes the immune system to destroy the the myelin sheath surrounding the axons of many peripheral nerves and sometimes even the axons themselves. The function of the myelin sheath is to speed up the transmission of nerve signals and to allow the transmission of nerve signals over long distances. When the myelin sheath is damaged or degraded these signals cannot be transmitted properly, which explains why muscles start to lose their ability to respond to signals from the brain.
Treatment of Guillain–Barré Syndrome
Therapy which lessens the severity of the Guillain–Barré syndrome and accelerates recovery in most patients is used, as there is no known cure for the syndrome. Treatment includes:
- Hospitalization to keep the body functioning during the recovery of the nervous system.
- Plasma exchange (plasmapheresis)
- High dose immunoglobulin therapy
- Physical therapy as soon as the patient regains some limb control
- In some cases, psychological counseling is given because dealing with sudden paralysis and dependence on others for care may cause patients to struggle to adapt emotionally
Recovery usually is a slow process and can vary from a few days to years. A small percentage of patients still suffer from muscle weakness after three years while about 3 percent may suffer a relapse of muscle weakness and tingling sensations many years after the initial diagnosis of Guillain–Barré syndrome.
At present, scientists are working towards finding a way to prevent Guillain–Barré syndrome and to treat the symptoms more effectively.
Yolande Pienaar - Yolande traveled extensively through Southern Africa and frequently visits places off the beaten track where she discovers gems to share ...
