Post-Polio Syndrome: More than just a lower motor neuron disease (2019)

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2019.00773/full

It's clear from this paper that PPS is not considered a functional distress syndrome and I've not seen it mentioned elsewhere as such.

My hope for the thread is to raise the issue of why this might be so that PPS has a different status from other post infectious syndromes.

While I'm not on social media it would be interesting (I think) if someone of the BPS functional syndrome group clarified their position on this especially as it is so strikingly similar to other post-infectious syndromes.

 

PPS - persistent physical symptoms - is also the BPS flavour of the month term for somatoform disorders...

 

The usual confusion of initials

Since the beginning the BPSers have made a land grab for any disease which wasn't well guarded by other doctors. Once they got a foothold they used their eminence to make their theories sound well researched and scientific so now, after so many years they are fast gaining ground on well established diseases like RA and MS by using their "success" treating fatigue in CFS.

But polio holds a special place in the consciousness of medicine. It was deadly and conquered by modern scientific medicine; a wonderful success story. So there is no way anyone can get away with saying it was not a real physical disease and post polio syndrome is part of that.

Long covid may benefit in the same way.

 

Yes, you're right. Though I've never actually seen Post-Polio among the list. Once I had the thought I admit that I couldn't quite let it go wondering if this was maybe an important point. In other words: if not why not?

I also latched onto to the question because I knew that Arthur C Clarke had PPS. And I have to wonder how the BPS would have approached him to tell him that he needed behavioural therapy to adjust his thinking.

 

I agree that because polio was deadly and because of the way it played out post-polio is certainly recognised. But as you point out the BPS cast a wide net and even are trying to 'acquire' illnesses that have recognition as disease.

And with the mind / body all mixed together into an incoherent mess why not include post-polio (if indeed they haven't).

 

A thanks to whoever added the tags for this thread. I was aware of the tagging issue but when I tried my mind remained stubbornly (mostly) blank on the subject.

 

BPS PPS cropped up the other day
https://www.s4me.info/threads/bmc-family-practice-integrated-gp-care-for-patients-with-persistent-physical-symptoms-2020-chalder-et-al.17195
I'm not sure the BPS cult would dare to acquire post-polio itself, but yes it would be good to challenge them as to why not given that a lot of ME has followed similar enteroviral infections.