Why Are Sleep Disorders and Respiratory Insufficiency Possible Manifestations of Postpolio Sequelae?
Some polio survivors report the occurrence of sleep disorders that are determined by clinical evaluation to be related to respiratory insufficiency during sleep. The poliovirus has demonstrated a propensity to attack the motor neurons responsible for respiratory function, and, during the acute infection, some individuals require ventilatory assistance. For example, years ago patients with acute polio infection were placed in an “iron lung” for ventilatory assistance. Some patients who required such assistance recovered and may have returned to normal lives without obvious signs of respiratory insufficiency. Some polio survivors, however, have reported the onset of sleep disorders years following the acute polio infection, and physicians have linked these sleep disorders to weakening of the respiratory musculature. During sleep, even slight weakness of the respiratory musculature may become clinically significant and interfere with breathing capacity. Chronic sleep deprivation resulting
