Muscle weakness and suffering from Guillain Barre at a young age
What kind of disorder is Guillain-Barré? What are the symptoms of this disorder in different people? How can we prevent this disorder from occurring? It has led to the fact that children at a young age are more vulnerable to this disease, for better diagnosis and investigation of this disease, spinal fluid test and imaging is very important and necessary.
Guillain Barre is a disease involving the nervous system. This disease, which can be seen in all ages, manifests itself in the form of paralysis. This article will give you information about Guillain Barre.
Dr. Reyhane Barkatin; Pediatrician
Paralysis usually occurs 10 days after contracting a specific viral infection, this initial infection may be in the form of digestive symptoms or respiratory infection.
Consuming contaminated chicken meat, unpasteurized milk and contaminated water are among the causes of digestive system infections.
Guillain-Barré has also been seen seeking to prescribe vaccines against rabies, influenza and polio.
Guillain-Barre symptoms
Initial symptoms include limb numbness followed by muscle weakness. Muscle weakness usually starts from the legs and progresses towards the trunk, hands and facial muscles.
There may also be pain in the back, neck, and legs.
The onset of the disease is gradual and progresses within a few days or weeks and finally reaches a stable state within 1 to 28 days.
In the early stages of the disease, especially in patients in whom the disease progresses rapidly, it is present in the muscle. Children are usually irritable.
Muscle weakness progresses to weakness and finally paralysis of four limbs. Maximum weakness usually occurs within 1 month after the onset of initial symptoms.
In about 50% of patients, muscle involvement outside the body occurs, which is seen as respiratory failure.
Pain when swallowing and facial muscle weakness are often signs of danger. These symptoms interfere with eating.
In a group of patients, the symptoms of meningitis, inflammation of the optic nerve, urinary retention or urinary incontinence occur, and the last two cases are often transient.
Sometimes the symptoms of patients are different and contrary to expectations, which may cause confusion in the diagnosis.
In some patients, the cardiovascular system is also involved, and the patient experiences symptoms such as fluctuating and unstable blood pressure and heart rate.
In 7 percent of children, after the improvement of the initial symptoms, the recurrence of the disease is seen. This group of patients is very weakened and the disease may be progressive.
Guillain-Barré diagnosis
Diagnosis of this disease requires testing of cerebrospinal fluid and in some situations imaging of the spinal cord is necessary to exclude other diseases, also some blood tests or muscle strip will help, but muscle biopsy is not necessary.
Guillain-Barré treatment
For treatment in the early stages of the disease, all patients must be admitted to the hospital and monitored, because the ascending paralysis may progress rapidly within 24 hours and affect the respiratory muscles, in cases where the progression of the disease is gradual and slow, only the patient can be treated. observed and treatment will not be needed, but in cases where the progress of the disease is fast, the use of medicine for 5 days will be required.
Also, a series of supportive treatments such as respiratory system support, prevention of bed sores, nutritional support, relief in two treatments of secondary infections are necessary.
The course of the disease is usually benign and recovery usually starts within 2 to 3 weeks. Most patients regain full muscle strength.
Although in some patients, some muscle weakness remains, but if some symptoms such as involvement of brain nerves or the occurrence of disorders in the respiratory system, it will be a sign of the bad outcome of the disease and instead of complications.
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