The Crossword Puzzle of Polio and Post-Polio Syndrome
By Professor Michael Kossove
Post-Polio Syndrome, or PPS, can sometimes feel like a crossword puzzle that nobody gave us the answers to. We know many of the clues. We recognize some of the symptoms. We can see the patterns. But putting all the pieces together has taken decades—and, for many polio survivors, the puzzle is still being solved.
For those of us who lived through polio, the first part of the story began long before anyone had heard the words Post-Polio Syndrome.
During the great polio epidemics of the 1940s and 1950s, the immediate concern was survival. Poliovirus could attack the nervous system and damage motor neurons, leaving some children and adults with paralysis, weakened muscles, breathing problems, and permanent disabilities. The medical community concentrated on getting patients through the acute illness and helping them recover as much function as possible
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