What Is Post Polio Syndrome?
3. Causes
We are not completely sure why post-polio syndrome occurs, but there are some strong candidates. One is to do with the way that the body compensates for nerve cells that were destroyed by the virus. These nerve cells are known as motor neurons, and they help carry messages to and from the central nervous system.
To compensate for the loss of motor neurons, the remaining motor neurons will grow new fibers that act as branches between nerve cells. This will help to restore functionality to the patient, but it will also be more demanding on each individual motor neuron. It is thought that post-polio syndrome is caused by this extra demand eventually causing the remaining motor neurons to fail.
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