Guillain Barre Syndrome - Diagnosis, Symptoms and Treatment of Guillain de Barre Disease

Guillain-Barre (Ghee-yan Bah-ray) Syndrome, also known as acute ascending polyneuritis , is a disorder in which a person's immune system attacks the myelin sheaths that surrounds the axons of many peripheral nerves. The myelin sheath speeds up the transmission of nerve signals, and if defective, the nerves cannot transmit signals efficiently.

Guillain-Barre syndrome is not associated with fever, an important fact in differentiating Guillain-Barre from other diseases. GBS can affect anybody. It can strike at any age; men may be more likely to develop GBS than women. The syndrome is rare, affecting about one to two persons in 100,000. It is now, however, the most common cause of acute neuromuscular paralysis in the world.

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) causes progressive muscle weakness and paralysis (the complete inability to use a particular muscle or muscle group), which develops over days or up to four weeks, and lasts several weeks or even months.

Causes of Guillain-Barré syndrome

The cause of GBS is an area of active debate and neurological investigation. In about 80% of the patients, symptoms began about 5 days to 3 weeks after a mild infection, surgery, or an immunization.

Symptoms of Guillain-Barré syndrome

• The first symptoms of GBS consist of muscle weakness (legs first, then arms, then face)
• prickly, tingling sensations (paresthesias).
• Affect both sides of the body simultaneously, a characteristic that helps distinguish GBS from other causes of weakness and paresthesias.
• Normal reflexes are first diminished, then lost.
• The weakness eventually affects all the voluntary muscles, resulting in paralysis.
• Absent reflexes and progressive limb paralysis

Treatment of Guillain-Barré syndrome

There is no direct treatment for GBS. Instead, treatments are used that support the patient with the disabilities caused by the disease

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