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Polio Particles - Issue 4Mary Westbrook
A new use for poliovirus? Microbiologists Dr M Gromeier and others (published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, June 2000) have used modified polio virus to fight glioma tumours (a cancer that usually resists treatment) in mice. In one experiment the researchers grafted human cancer cells into the mice's legs, waited for the cancers to grow and then injected half of the mice with the modified poliovirus. The tumours of mice injected with polio disappeared within a fortnight while tumours in the untreated group continued to grow. The report of the findings in the online journal Healthscout (www.healthscout.com) said that many scientists believe that altered viruses could be the proverbial silver bullet against many forms of cancer because they can be custom-tailored in virtually infinite ways to do everything from trigger a highly targeted immune response against tumour cells to attack and destroy only malignant tissue. Virologist, Bernard Roizman, calls the results interesting and among the strongest anti-tumour effects of altered virus that he has seen. However he warns that Polio doesn't naturally infect mice, so the fact that the modified form killed transplanted cancer cells but spared other tissues doesn't say anything about what it might do to humans … polio is a notoriously slippery agent with an extraordinary capacity to mutate. If therapeutic strains were to become virulent to brain cells in addition to tumours, the results could be devastating. A brain tumour specialist said he is cautiously optimistic about the findings. How ironic if polio should become a cancer fighter! Dolls with disabilities Several years ago Mattel, the manufacturer of Barbie, produced Share a Smile Becky who uses a wheelchair. However it turned out that Becky could not visit Barbie because Barbie's Dream House was not wheelchair accessible. Mattel was forced to redesign Barbie's house so that Becky could come to play. Mattel has just released Paralympic Becky who rides a racing style wheelchair. She comes with a water bottle, and gold medal. Another recent release is Sign Language Barbie whose right hand is moulded in the American Sign Language sign for I love you. This Barbie is advertised as a teacher of deaf people rather than being deaf herself. Mattel, who have received much very favourable publicity from the media and disability organisations for the dolls, say they have helped raise the level of community understanding about people with disabilities. However do not expect Becky to raise many little girls' disability awareness. I thought Charlotte, my grand-daughter, would like to own a Becky. As I could not find her at any local shops I made my first excursion to the large American Internet toyshops. There was no sign of Share a Smile Becky until I found her in a doll collectors' shop for $US158. The advertisement said, This is a very hard to find doll and an exclusive. Grab this doll now, she is a very scarce piece and very desirable. Needless to say Charlotte and Becky won't be sharing smiles! I also discovered that paraplegic Becky has flat (right-angled) feet so she is able to stand on her own. Barbie, the able-bodied doll, has feet shaped to fit high heeled shoes so she cannot stand on her own. A person with feet like Barbie would be considered disabled. I think there's a moral to this tale, perhaps people with disabilities are better grounded in reality than able-bodied folk. Polio vaccination in India On a recent public health Sunday 650,000 health centres
in India aimed to administer polio vaccine to 140 million children Reuters
reported. India, which now has the majority of new polio cases in the
world, hopes to see the last cases of the disease in late 2000 or early
2001. India is the world's largest consumer of oral polio vaccine using
1,150 million doses a year. This July, seven Italian couturiers adapted their designs for women with disabilities according to Associated Press. Sixteen models rolled along the catwalk at one fashion show. Designer, Egon von Furstenberg said, The technicality is different because you can't have any buttons, any zippers, but a woman is a woman, and a woman wants to be beautiful, always. The article shows glamorous blonde model Raffaella Fanelli in a glittering evening gown in her wheelchair. She is quoted as saying how important the shows have been and hopes that now designers will understand that we have special needs, and finally design dresses we're able to wear. Biography of life in an iron lung Through a Looking Glass is the diary of Doris Nelson who contracted polio as a young woman and spent 37 years in an iron lung. She was mentioned in the Guiness World Book of Records. Doris typed her diaries by mouth and they have been published after her death. At the time she contracted polio she was a beautiful girl, engaged to be married to Tom, who refused to break off their relationship. Doris decided I had to cut the tie … it's senseless for both of us to suffer the consequences [of polio] … I couldn't say this to Tom because he'd disagree. I told him very bluntly, I didn't love him anymore and maybe I never really did. This was cruel but it's the only way he can walk away from me without feeling guilty … Everyone agrees I've done the right thing. Have I? Tom visits her over 30 years later and confesses I've thought of you every day for the past 30 years but I guess you always loved the other guy. To his great distress she whispers I never stopped loving you. It is only toward the end of her life that she had the equipment to leave home for outings. A visit to the dentist is exciting! Doris' faith in God was important in helping her to survive not always on soaring wings but at least above a level of despair. One of her prayers in the book is: Lord help me to achieve: It's a brave, sad story and I couldn't help thinking that if Doris had lived later in the century changes in attitudes and equipment would have enabled her to be more integrated into community life. The book is available for $US13.95 from the publisher, DeForest Press, on their website www.deforestpress.com. The address is PO Box 154, Elk River, MN 55330, USA. Thank you to Richard DeForest for generously providing a review copy to the Network. Yet another use for poliovirus Crippling poliovirus leashed to repair nerves! This was
the headline in an Alabama newspaper in August when the journal Nature
Biotechnology reported research by Casey Morrow, professor of Microbiology
at the University of Alabama. Morrow's research team has taken advantage
of the poliovirus' ability to target the motor neurones in the spinal
cord that are responsible for movement. As we know from personal experience
the poliovirus destroys them. Morrow has changed the virus so that it
cannot destroy these cells. He plans to use the virus to deliver useful
proteins that can suppress swelling and help re-growth of damaged neurones
in the spine. The safety of the modified virus has been tested successfully
on mice. Now the researchers are testing whether it can safely deliver
proteins that will repair nerve cells. Human trials are not expected for
about three years. The researchers suggest that in the future the modified
virus will be injected into the spinal fluid after spinal cord injury
to prevent the swelling that often damages motor neurones and to stimulate
re-growth. Multiple sclerosis and motor neurone disease (ALS) are also
mentioned as diseases that may be helped by the technique. When the Franklin Delano Roosevelt National Memorial in Washington was designed there was no depiction of the president in a wheelchair. As Hugh Gallagher reports in the online journal Spinewire thousands of Americans with disabilities protested, raised money and lobbied Congress in an effort to commemorate the greatest president of the 20th century as one of us, a person with a disability. Now there is to be a statue of Roosevelt sitting in the simple wheelchair he designed. The chair was a kitchen chair to which he attached wheels. The big wheels were in front so he could turn on a dime. The chair, unlike the bulky wicker chairs of the time, could fit in the boot of a car. The life-size statue will be placed on the pavement without a plinth or a pedestal. People walking around may overlook it or bump into it as they do with people using wheelchairs. Wheelchair users will be able to sit side by side with the president. Children will be able to sit on his lap. The inscription on the long wall behind the statue is his wife's comment about his polio. He had to think out the fundamentals of living and learn the greatest of all lessons - infinite patience and never-ending persistence. Gallagher says that visitors' eyes will be drawn to the inscription and because of its length they will pause to read it word by word. They will look at the statue and contemplate the achievement of this man in a wheelchair. He believes that the statue will become a beacon like the statue of liberty. It will proclaim that in the USA people with disabilities are full citizens, empowered with all the rights that other Americans have. The memorial will be completed at the end of this year. Carpal tunnel syndrome in polio survivors The carpal tunnel is an area in the wrist shaped like a shallow valley. Nine muscle tendons and the median nerve pass through it. There is a tough ligament across the valley so it is a crowded area. Irritation can make the tendons swell which squeezes the nerve. This may cause weakness, aching, pain, numbness, and tingling and limit range of movement. Polio survivors are prone to develop carpal tunnel syndrome because they frequently use their hands to operate assistive aids such as wheelchairs or crutches or to carry out everyday activities such as rising from chairs and climbing stairs. The condition is often treated by surgery. Several members of the Network have had surgery but did not experience benefits. Others report good results. If your doctor is considering surgery you may want to bring to his/her attention a research study, Clinical management of carpal tunnel syndrome in patients with long-term sequelae of poliomyelitis, by W Waring and R Werner, published in The Journal of Hand Surgery in 1989 (Volume 14A, page 865). These researchers found that in the long term, polio survivors who had had carpal tunnel surgery reported a similar number and type of problems as survivors with the syndrome who had not had surgery. The authors say that polio is not an absolute contraindication to this surgery but a cautious approach needs to be used when evaluating this population, especially those who use canes or crutches constantly. Management strategies need to be designed that will permit patients who use canes and crutches to continue their use of assistive devices while decreasing the risk of exacerbating their condition or more hopefully to prevent its initial occurrence. A book that describes stretching exercises useful for carpal tunnel syndrome (and many other parts of the body where polio survivors experience pain) is Conquering Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Other Repetitive Strain Injuries. It was written by Sharon Butler and published in 1996 by New Harbinger Publications, California. Gleebooks, Glebe, have it for sale for $34.95. It is available on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com for $US16.15. AIDS and polio vaccine update In the December 1999 issue of the Newsletter I reported the theory that AIDS was introduced into the human population when the Wistar Institute produced the early oral polio vaccine using tissue cultures from chimpanzees. The Wistar Institute denied using chimps and released samples of the early vaccine so that the allegation could be tested. Separate laboratories in two different countries have now tested the samples. They found no evidence of chimp DNA. This makes it very, very unlikely that the theory is true (Associated Press).
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Polio
Particles - # 1
