In twenty pages polio and post polio syndrome are considered in this overview of definitions, causes, and contemporary research into PPS. Nine sources are cited in the bibliography.
Name of Research Paper File: AM2_PPpolio.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
Polio, that disease more formally known as poliomyelitis, made its first ravaging swath through the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. First associated
only with the lower economic classes, this disease finally gained national empathy when it unleashed its fury on such notables as then President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Indeed, Roosevelts wheelchair
came to stand as a symbol of the potential impacts of polio. Consequently, the country banded together to end the terrible rampage of Polio. Finally, Jonas E. Salks
injectable polio vaccine was introduced in 1955, an introduction which was quickly followed by a orally administered vaccine developed by Albert B. Sabin and first put into use in 1961
(Saxon, 2002). These vaccines were tremendously effective in the prevention of future occurrences of the disease and the number of reported cases dropped almost overnight to a point where
polio was considered almost extinct in this country. Those who it had infected prior to the development of the vaccine, however, were left with the ever present reminder of
impaired physical, respiratory, and cognitive function. Few actually died from polio but many were left scarred for life. Most of the survivors, however, managed to take on positive
roles in society. Many even became societys overachievers, compensating in a number of innovative ways for their various physical impairments to achieve tremendous accomplishments and stable societal positions.
No one dreamed that their battle with polio was far from over. In the 1970s and 1980s these survivors, now in the latter halves of their lives, would once
again begin to feel the symptoms of polio. These individuals began to face off: