Who can get GBS/MFS/CIDP?
Anyone: young or old, male or female. The illnesses are neither hereditary nor contagious. GBS affects about 1500 people every year in the United Kingdom; the incidence of CIDP is perhaps one tenth that of GBS. It can strike at any age and both sexes are equally prone to the disorder. The syndrome is rare, however, afflicting only about one person in 100,000. Usually Guillain-Barr occurs a few days or weeks after the patient has had symptoms of a respiratory or gastrointestinal viral infection. Occasionally surgery or vaccinations will trigger the syndrome. The disorder can develop over the course of hours or days, or it may take up to 3 to 4 weeks. Most people reach the stage of greatest weakness within the first 2 weeks after symptoms appear, and by the third week of the illness 90 percent of all patients are at their weakest. What causes GBS/MFS/CIDP? No one is sure. The classic scenario in 60% of GBS, involves a patient who has just recovered from a typical, seemingly uncomplicated
