subject: Useful Information About Guillain Barre Syndrome [print this page] Useful Information About Guillain Barre Syndrome
Gullain Barre Syndrome is basically concerned with the disorder of peripheral nervous system. The body's immune system attacks the nervous system. Tingling sensations in the legs and varying degrees of weakness is the major symptoms of this disorder. However, the weakness and unusual sensations may spread to upper body and arms in some cases. The major intensity of this disorder may sometimes become the cause of paralyzing the patient. The extreme cases of this disorder are extremely dangerous and life threatening.
Causes
It is still a mystery for medical specialists and scientists that why this syndrome attacks and strikes some people and not others. The only thing which is known by the medical specialists is that the body immune system attacks the body itself, which is commonly known as autoimmune disease. But still Gullain Barre is not considered as a disease but a syndrome. It is just because they are not sure either the specific disease causing agent is involved.
Gullain Barre is found in rare cases, but it is there. This disorder usually occurs a few weeks after the patient has had a gastrointestinal or a respiratory viral infection. Sometimes a surgery or specific vaccinations initiate the disorder. This syndrome can develop in different time spans which are not fixed.
Symptoms
The sensation in the legs or arms and the changing degrees of weakness is the foremost symptom of this syndrome. Reflexes system also suffers a lot because of this syndrome as the nervous system becomes weak. Knee jerks are often lost in this syndrome. Mostly medical specialists use a NCV (Nerve Conduction Velocity) test to diagnose the syndrome.
Diagnosis
Gullain Barre syndrome is considered to be the most harmful disorder because it attacks the patient suddenly and surprisingly. The patient within weeks reaches the highest level of weakness. In 3rd or 4th weeks of the illness the patients are at their weakest. The recovery period can be varying according to the condition of the patient. It can be few weeks or in some cases a few years.
Treatment
There is no proper treatment or cure for this syndrome except some therapies. Different sort of therapies are used to accelerate the recovery process and minimize the severity of the illness. There are two major therapies are used to treat the patients. The two therapies are Plasmapheresis and high-dose immunoglobulin therapy. Plasmapheresis helps to reduce the severity and duration of the Gullain barre syndrome. It has been observed by many scientists that the high dose of immunoglobulin therapy helps to reduce the immune attack on the nervous system. In high dose immunoglobulin therapy the patient are given injections of protein in small amount to lessen the immune attacks. The critical part of this treatment is to keep the body of the patient functioning during the recovery of the nervous system. This can be achieved by taking help of heart monitor, respirator, or any other machines that can assist the body function.
