Authored by BlueAngel on
Sunday, March 28, 2004
POST-POLIO Syndrome by Dr. Julie K. Silver ( Assistant Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard School of Medicine; Medical Director of Spaulding Framingham Outpatient Center; Director of International Centre for Polio, Framingham, Massachusetts and Dr. Anne C. Gawne (Director , Post-Polio Clinic, Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation Warm Springs, Georgia—prior to her death at a fairly young age in the past year of a massive heart attack .)
This book is published by Hanley & Belfus, An Affiliate of Elsevier at the Carver Center, Independence Square West, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106.It was written with health care professions in mind, to educate them regarding the effects of Post-Polio Syndrome as definite diagnosis affecting thousands of Polio Survivors many years after the initial infection. This book appears to be a companion book to the one which Dr. Silver published in 2001 by the Yale University Press in New Haven, Connecticut. POST-POLIO SYNDROME: A Guide for Survivors & Their Families is a book which deals with what the Polio survivors and their families should know and understand the process of how PPS (Post-Polio Syndrome) affects them now many years after being felled by the initial infection.
Quoting from the back cook cover of the current book follows since it succinctly describes the aims of Drs. Silver and Gawne with the writing of this edition. “Many survivors of the polio epidemic are experiencing a recurrence of symptoms , including fatigue, muscle weakness, and chronic pain. A large number of these polio survivors will be diagnosed with PPS (Post-Polio Syndrome). Written by international experts, this book describes the features of PPS and of diagnosis, management and rehabilitation. Current evidence based guidelines specific rehabilitation therapies for all polio survivors are covered, including exercise therapy, aquatic therapy, and energy conservation measures. Practical information on topics such as aging, prevention of secondary disability, swallowing disorders, and the use of assistive devices to help with activities of daily living is presented. The psychosocial issues that affect people with polio-related disability are also addressed. By the very nature of the targeted readers of this book, it is more technically written and easily understood. If you can’t understand some of the terminology & have access to the internet you can use MEDLINE PLUS to obtain definitions in simpler less technical terminology. Maybe an old fashioned Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary might be of some assistance also. I still haven’t been able to find out the definition of “polio stigmata” (and I am a retired RN,BSN). Is there anyone out there that can relay the definition to me? I would appreciate it!
The book is slow reading but is divided somewhat like a textbook to where you can read and reread each chapter until you are ready to move further along. Each chapter has a very good bibliography where you can look up any more information you might want to do. The book, POST-POLIO SYNDROME: A Guide for Polio Survivors & Their Families with a forward by Lauro S. Halstead, MD. Both books are very informative. You might want to consider the latest book as a gift for your healthcare providers to help provide a more thorough understanding of Post-Polio Syndrome & the possibility of spreading the “word” throughout our particular communities.
If there is enough interest shown by the members & friends in the book, there is a possibility of obtaining the book at a lower cost (provided we all order at one time and one certified check is sent with the order). Please contact the Warm Springs Resourcenter @ 210.595.9200. You will be informed how to contact one of the members of SAPSA. Thank you.
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