I certailny had assumed so. It’s what we were all taught. The other day, I was looking up Andy Griffith, and discovered that he had suffered from Guillain-Barre syndrome . Always eager to learn more, I searched wikipedia to find what this disease was only to uncover the “truth” that FDR did not suffer from polio, but from Guillian-Barre syndrome. I don’t really like to take wikipedia at its word, so I checked the reference (warning, it will download the pdf when you click the link.) It looks to me like a pretty legitamit comparison of FDR’s well documented symptoms with the symptoms of Polio and Guillain-Barre syndrome. I have to admit it is pretty convincing, but I’m not a medical professional. I certainly don’t know how credible this journal is.
Should history be rewritten?
Huh. Interesting.
http://www.neurological.org.nz/html/article.php?documentCode=844
Researchers Question Cause of FDR’s Paralytic illness
Study Suggests 32nd President Suffered From Guillian-Barré Syndrome
The paralysis which struck Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) in 1921 was not caused by poliomyelitis, as has been universally assumed by physicians and historians, according to researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). They believe that the most likely cause of FDR’s paralysis was Guillain-Barré syndrome.
The researchers acknowledge that Roosevelt’s vigorous exercise preceding the illness, fever during the initial phase of the disease, and permanent paralysis were consistent with a diagnosis of poliomyelitis. However, many other features “were inconsistent with paralytic poliomyelitis that affects motor neurons but were typical of Guillain-Barré syndrome, an autoimmune disease that damages sensory and motor nerves,” said Dr. Armond Goldman, an emeritus professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UTMB who has treated patients with both illnesses.
The features that were typical of Guillain-Barré syndrome included FDR’s age at the onset of the disease (39 years), the near symmetry and ascending nature of the paralysis, his facial paralysis early in the course of the disease, the duration of the progression of the paralysis, the numbness, extreme prolonged pain, bladder and bowel dysfunction, and the descending pattern of recovery from his paralysis. Whereas patients with mild to moderate Guillian-Barré syndrome usually recover entirely, those with severe disease who are not treated by modern methods often experience permanent paralysis, the authors noted.
The diagnosis of Guillain-Barre syndrome was supported by a statistical analysis that took into account the frequency of paralytic poliomyelitis and Guillian-Barré syndrome in adults of Roosevelt’s age in 1921 and the likelihood of his symptoms occurring in either of the two diseases. Six of eight probabilities in the analysis favoured the diagnosis of Guillian-Barré syndrome, whereas only two (fever and permanent paralysis) favoured poliomyelitis. Although Guillian-Barré syndrome is the most likely diagnosis, Dr. Goldman noted that “no one can be absolutely sure of the cause of Roosevelt’s paralysis because relevant laboratory diagnostic studies were not performed or were not available at the time of his illness.” In that respect, an examination of his cerebrospinal fluid would have been the same because treatment for that disease was not discovered until the latter part of the 20th century.
Despite his residual paralysis, Roosevelt became the 32 President of the United States, a leader of the Allies during the Second World War and an architect of the United Nations. He also helped to create a philanthropic organization called the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, popularly known as the March of Dimes. The Foundation strongly supported the rehabilitation of victims of paralytic poliomyelitis and the development of vaccines that prevent poliovirus infections, one of the major achievements of 20th Century medicine.
Or this:
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/501648/?sc=wire