Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1921-12-20
Health Talks by DR.. Brady
How InfnntiIe r.r.ly.I, Ends.

An alleged cold" Is joke when IL turns
out to be infantile paralysis. We doctors.
fortunately, have the habit Of considering dis.
ease In the abstract else we should be Of no
use Mt all in time OF grave trouble. Yet I
think we share with tho parent tho terror,
and the anguish and maybe sometimes the
tears that this cruel disease brings to the
home. There is something appalling I'm the
way poliomyclitis strikes down and Mains
child. not like laundering iurgernaut
from which parent might strive to protect
ms own, but mysteriousy, without warning
and seemingly without cause. Except the won
der and majesty OF the hrst great moment of
maternity. l have seen nothing In life so in
spring a. the faith of the mother who can
accept IS ruthless stroke and bear II with
quiet fortitudc as the will of Providence
We'll the god OF science is not wholly in :
scrntahlc From tho moment of infection
twhen the virus gains entrance IN tho hodv,
until the first Sign symptom of Illness th.
incubation period) OF nfantile PARALYSIS ia
apout week usually. sometimes a few day
sometimes as long az three weeks. The durn-
ZION OF inc fevcrish stage, which Is easily mis-
'"Heh LOT such diseases az tonsllItis Influenza
or so-cnllcd common cold" (coryza, &c ony
"here from one 10 seven days Then the nm :
.ralysis becomes manifest
But remember that i'm about half of all cases
OF poliomyclitis no paralysis or practically
none occurs. And there are all transitions
from these abor,ive or Incomplete cases trec-
oEnizcd by serum tcstS) to the most extensive
paralysis of all four limbs
Although there may be general tenderness
of the skin and pain In the limbs before the
advent of paralysis, II is characteristic OF the
paralysis to develop completely at the time il
first The muscles involved simpIy
become faccid: their power to respond to
ncX nerve action Is lost they lose the power
to respond to electric stimulation AS normal
muscles or rather muscles with normal nerve
and spinal cord connections respond. In four
ffths of the cases the paralysis is OF one leg
muscle group-for instance. the group OF mus
cles that draw the foot up when one walks
Most instances of the fail foot one sees here
and there arc the residual paralysis of polio
myelitis in early childhood. Both legs or a
leg and an arm. all four limbs, or the neck
muscles or trunk muscles one side may be
involved. Paralysis OF the diaphragm itself
with serious embarrassment of breathing ma v
occur. There is n fatal termination in about
10 per cent of cases. The outlook Is better in
children than in adults. About half of all
cases I'm children terminate without paralysis:
about one-third Of all cases in persons over
IL terminate in recovery without paralysis
In the first few weeks of the paraIytc stage
there is usually steady recovery from paraly-
sis, except that In about half Of the cases
one muscle group remains more or less weak
ened and faced. Many cases OF paralytic
clubfoot and aatfoot the residual paralysis
OF poliomyelitis in early life
For nearly two years after tho attack a
certain steady Improvement NAV he expected
and this is. of course, greater when good
treatment and a determination to get we'll or
the patient is old cnough) are both working
in the patients welfare