WHAT CAUSES THE LATE EFFECTS OF POLIO?
There may even be several causes or a set of circumstances which favours the development of new symptoms. Some recent scientific concepts are explained below. • Some think that the abnormal wear and tear associated with residual polio explains the symptoms of the late effects of polio. In other words, they do not consider this a “new” condition but a logical consequence of the “old” symptoms. Opponents to this concept have pointed out that even those who were mildly affected by polio or who had no obvious residual effects can experience its late effects (4). • Others think that, due to the diminished number of motor neurones after paralytic polio, signs of ageing become more apparent in people who previously had polio. An argument against this notion is that the late effects of polio can start at any age and commonly well before the age of 60, when the number of motor neurones starts to diminish in all of us (5). However, for people past the age of 60, the combination of the two will n
