Dear Gigi,
Thank you for your e-mail. There seem to be more of
us out there than any one expected. I encourage you to follow up on
this. It's a frustrating journey getting doctors to listen, much
less to believe us. But then think of what our mothers have been
through. I am going to type a short description from the most
recent issue of a Western Australia PPS Newletter in which my
article was also published (they seem to be further along in this
field than we). Since I am trying to collect data for researchers
here, I would be most interested in the category under which you
fall.
3 Categories of Children of Polios
1. Those like the above (she refers to my article)
who were exposed to polio in-utero when their mothers had polio.
These should be classed as polio survivors too.
2. Then there are those who were born before their
parent had polio (or who were there when a sibling had polio.)
These children could have actually had a minor unrecognised dose of
polio as they would have been exposed to the virus and probably were
quarentined at the time. So they may be polio survivors too.
3. The largest group are children born after their
parents had polio. These are the ones who didn't actually have
polio themselves but are likely to record low carnitine levels now
and need more nutritional supplements simply because the poor health
of the polio parent may have affected their inherited genetic
biochemical levels at the time of conception. Low folic acid is not
the only nutrient to cause problems in the developing child.
Any of these children now having problems with
fatigue and/or muscles or tendons should consider having carnitine
levels done and try some of the supplements found useful for polios.

I hope this gives you the information you need for
empowerment or just the relief that it is not "all in your head."
Thank you again for your e-mail and please let me know if you can
identify with any of these groups.

Ever Onward,
David