Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger
Danny Beard (center) of Brandon,
works with Physical Therapist Karen
Klein (left) and student Physical
Therapist Natalie Verna (right).
Guillain-Barre
Guillain-Barre (ghee-yan
bah-ray) syndrome is a
disorder in which the body's
immune system attacks part
of the peripheral nervous
system.It usually occurs a
few days or weeks after a
respiratory or
gastrointestinal viral
infection. Occasionally,
surgery or vaccinations will
trigger the syndrome.
The first symptoms of this
disorder include varying
degrees of weakness or
tingling sensations in the
legs. In many instances, the
weakness and abnormal
sensations spread to the
arms and upper body. They
can increase in intensity
until the muscles cannot be
used at all and the patient
is almost totally paralyzed.
Source: National Institute
of Neurological Disorders
and Stroke
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Mysterious syndrome coming in clusters
By Richard Lake
rlake@clarionledger.com
The temporary end of a normal life started
simply for Danny Beard, with pain in his
ankles.
Within days, it spread to his wrists and
shoulders, then into the joints all over his
body.
Then his thigh muscles cramped and stopped
working. It hurt so bad he cried.
Beard, then 47 , is tall and brawny,
big-boned and bearded. In short, he seems
invincible.
But Guillain-Barre Syndrome does not care.
It affects men and women, the young and the
old, the strong and the weak.
"We have experienced what we call a cluster
of GBS cases," said Dr. Art Leis, a
neurologist with Methodist Rehabilitation
Center in Flowood, where Beard is among six
people being treated for the strange and
mystifying syndrome.
GBS, named after two French doctors who
first described it in 1916, strikes about
one or two of every 100,000 people annually.
It is rarely fatal, and in most cases, it
will go away within a year, almost as
mysteriously as it appeared.
Beard is a diesel mechanic from Brandon, a
hunter, a former high school football player
who still carries the weight, and then some.
But this disease he had never heard of was
enough to take away whatever control he
thought he had over his body. It had come
with no warning, no explanation, just lots
and lots of pain.
"I literally cried and swallowed and
hollered," he said. "I cried so hard it
turned into a laugh."
GBS struck LaKeysha Greer more quietly.
Greer, then 30, an attorney in Jackson, woke
up in the middle of the night last
September, her toes and fingers tingling. It
wouldn't stop, and it hurt.
"I really feel weird," she thought.
The doctors didn't know what was going on.
Like they had done with Beard, they tested
Greer for everything.
Within 10 days, she was paralyzed. Couldn't
walk, check e-mail, or even brush her teeth.
On average, five to 10 people in the Jackson
metro area come down with it a year.
The center's spokeswoman said they had
treated 20 GBS patients between 2000 and
mid-2005 before this new crop of six
patients all showed up within a few months
of each other.
Having six GBS patients at the same time is,
to put it plainly, a little weird.
Leis said it is still unclear if the cluster
is a random, local phenomenon or if it is
more widespread. Because GBS is not
contagious, it is not a reportable disease.
That means no one keeps track of its
prevalence.
No one knows exactly what causes GBS, though
it often follows a viral or bacterial
infection, and sometimes follows
vaccinations, surgery or stress.
Two of the six people with it here received
vaccinations in the weeks before coming down
with it, Leis said. The apparent connection
is still unclear.
GBS is classified as an autoimmune disease
meaning the body's immune system begins to
attack its nervous system.
When the nerves don't work, they can't send
signals to the muscles. People with GBS
become paralyzed. Usually, it slowly works
its way up from the feet. In the most severe
cases, it even affects breathing and some
patients need to be put on a ventilator.
Leis likened it to a severe, paralyzing
spinal cord injury.
In about 20 percent of the cases, a more
serious form can develop that can last a
lifetime.
Beard and Greer, though, appear to be
getting better.
Both Beard and Greer have recently
celebrated birthdays, and are going through
physical therapy to get their muscles
working again.
It is gruelling, they said, to have to learn
to walk again, let alone figuring out how to
work, manage a household and move on with
their lives.
Greer said she is working part-time, while
Beard said his company told him his job
would be there for him when he is ready.
For now, both said they're just focusing on
enjoying what they took for granted before
all this happened to them.
"GBS is not the type of illness that you get
over quickly," Greer said. "But it is one
that teaches you a little bit about your
inner reserves and that, no matter what you
thought before, you are strong enough to get
past whatever little |
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