Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-08-16
Final Outlook
for Paralysis
Victims
By WOODS HUTCHINSON, M. D.

Widely as they are separated in
time of life, there is curious resem-
blance in some respects between in
fantile paralysis and the common
paralysis, or Stroke" Of second child
hood
Both are due to blocking or rup-
ture OF the blood vessels supplying
limited area, or center, in the net-
vous system. Both come on suddenly
-"old" paralysis within a few min
utes or hours. young" paralysis with
in two or three hours, ten or twelve
at the outside. Both recover very
slowly, and for the same reason that
large Chunks" of the nerve centers
have been starved to death by the
cutting off of their food supply
through the blood vessels, and it Is,
a long and toilsome process to either
regrow them from such rootlets and
fragments as are left or else educate'
other centers to take their place. In
both it is very difficult to prophecy
the result in any particular case, for
it is extremely uncertain-both ways
from the center, so to speak.
Quite mild cases will sometimes
make little or no improvement, while
badly disabled ones will often make
really surprising recovery.
On the whole, however. consider.
ing the sudden and striking nature OF
the paralysis and the seriousness OF
the damage done to the spinal cord
infantile paralysis falls far short Of
living up to the terror which its at
tack inspires. Actually, it is not half
as dangerous a, disease as measles
or whooping cough, but the dramatic
character and strangeness of the
cripplings which, it produces and the
long years afterward which its little
victims live to exhibit them make
a powerful impression upon our ina
gination.
Statements of percentages OF risk
are rather cold consolation In one
way, for even though they be ten to
one in favor of recovery or escape,
YOU can never be sure whether your
child or your family may not fall in
the unlucky tenth. Still, when the
risks fall below one in the thousand,
we feel justified in contemplating
them with a certain degree of equan-
unity, but when they drop below one
in ten thousand, such as hydropho6ia,
or being struck by lightning, or be-
in bitten by shark, we pretty nearly
dimiss them from our minds, except
upon rare occasions of temporary
panic.
So far as the whole community Is
concerned, infantile paralysis, In spite
of the piteous suffering which it in
flicts, and our well-nigh utter help
lessness to control it, actually falls
below the one in a thousand risk;
for, as DR.. Emerson has pointed out,
out of New York's 100000 children,
only 5000 have so far developed
the disease, or only one In 600. and
less than 400, or about one in 5000
have died of it within a month. while
measles causes nearly four times as
many deaths in New York every win
ter without attracting any attention
at all.
OF course, the epidemic d not over
yet, but as the most expensive one
anywhere on record, our own Of 1907
reached only $500 cases, with less
than 200 deaths, and outside OF that,
fifty to 100 cases have always been
regarded as large epidemic, it would
be against all probabilities if this
present outbreak should pass the
5000 mark, which would mean only
one death in every 1000 children.
But what of the more numerous
and, in the long run, almost serious
results of the disease other than the
immediate fatality? So far as a de-
finite statement of probability can be
made about a disease so uncertain
and uncalculable in its results, this
would be the rough probable out
come:
About one-fourth of all cases which
recover will be practically cured;
about one-half will have permanent
aiming in one or more limbs or
joints, but intelligent re-education Of
the muscles, and training for special
occupations, be practically able
bodied and 80 to 90 per cent effi-
cient, while one-fourth will probably
be more or less seriously crippled
for life.
Broadly considered, from 10 to
IS per cent of the little victims will
be able to support themselves and
carry on their life duties without ser
ious practical hindrance. The reason
for this rather high recovery rate of
practical efficiency and able-bodied-
ness is that the paralysis, though ex-
tremely irregular, is nearly always
onesided, in the sense Of seldom in
volving both legs or both arms. Or
if it does, one limb OF the pair is
very much less seriously affected than
the other. So that while one leg, for
instance, may be quite seriously dam
aged, the other will be almost en-
tirely sound, and by putting a brace
on the weakened limb, or even, in
extreme cases, fixing and stiffening
the knee joint by surgical operation,
so as to make a sort of natural
wooden leg, the patient may be
able to walk quite fairly well, or even
briskly, with the aid Of a cane.