Guillain-Barre Syndrome
also known as Infectious Polyneuritis
GBS is an uncommon illness causing weakness and loss of sensation
that usually recovers completely after a few weeks or months. It is named after two French physicians, Guillain (pronounced
Ghee-lan) and Barré (pronounced Bar-ray), who described it in 1916 in two soldiers who were affected by a paralysis but later
recovered. It affects about one person in 40,000 each year. It can occur at any age from infancy onwards but is slightly more
common in the elderly; it is more common in men than in women; it is not hereditary; it is neither passed onto children nor
is it infectious and it is not caught from or transmitted to anybody else. However, it does often develop a week or two after
a throat or intestinal infection.
Signs and Symptoms:
- Tingling (pins and needles) or loss of feeling (numbness) beginning
in the toes and fingers
- Legs feel heavy and wooden
- Arms feel limp
- Hands cannot grip or turn things properly
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