European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 27, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Recurring Nightmare when polio comes Back Wypa Lurecer a science writer Eccles after polio invaded his youth and almost snuffed Oft his breath or. Lauro Halstead is struggling with a second punch from the disease. For him the phrase physician heal thyself has become a Way of life. Halstead is one of 125,000 americans suffering from Post polio syndrome a devastating blow delivered in Middle age to patients who had polio in their youth. But Halstead is More than a patient. He s also one of the doctors who defined the syndrome and now Heads the Post polio program at the National rehabilitation Hospital in Washington. When i talk to patients about this condition they seem to pay More attention because i m fighting the same thing he said in an interview. They know that i know what i m talking  Post polio syndrome is becoming a wore widely recognized menace to 650,000 american polio survivors people who contracted the polio virus in the 1940s and 1950s, before vaccines brought the dreaded summertime crippler under control. People who thought they had recovered fully from the effects of polio Are experiencing fatigue muscle weakness pain and difficulty in. Breathing and swallowing. Many former polio patients now Are being forced to return to the braces and wheelchairs and even breathing aids that they stopped using decades ago. The cause of the syndrome is not Clear but it seems to strike those who worked the hardest to overcome the crippling effects of their childhood polio. Halstead said it May have been the hard work of rehabilitation that is indirectly causing polio s second Bounce. An awful lot of polio folks tend to be High achievers he said. They Learned an important lesson at an Early age if you work hard your body will Reward  now said the doctor he is trying to teach these same people and himself a new lesson the magic cure of rest. Polio strikes motor nerves in the spinal column destroying pathways that the body uses to Send signals to Muscles. The disease typically killed Only a portion of those nerves and Halstead said the body is equipped with a 20 percent to 40 percent surplus. It s believed that the nerves untouched by disease grew new pathways to compensate for those killed by polio. These new nerves connected to muscle cells and enabled Many people who were crippled by the disease to regain use of limbs. The recovery took years of exhausting and often painful exercise. Those extra nerves now Are breaking Down from overuse Halstead believes. 20 to your health during polio epidemics thousands were confined to Iron lungs. It s almost As if an electrical circuit required for too Long to carry too much. Power is finally burning out. The symptoms often Are Subtle and can go undiagnosed. Many patients just ignore it think it s because of age he said. But More and More Are turning up on his office Doorstep. Halstead s Long struggle with polio began at age 18, the summer after his freshman year in College. The disease struck savagery while he was touring Europe and his life was saved by a crude breathing device an Iron lung made of Wood at a Spanish children s  breathing device was designed for children but somehow doctors jammed in Halstead s 6-foot4 Frame. It worked Well enough to keep him alive through the acute phase of Polo. Then he was. Flown Back to the United states to Start months of rehabilitation at a Hospital near his White Plains . Home polio had left him with Only slight motion in his right Arm and he was right handed an4 a weakness in his legs. It also planted in him a determination to become a doctor. Halstead taught himself to write with his left hand exercised his Way Back to walking. After taking an English degree from Haverford College he persuaded the University of Rochester to ignore his disability and to enrol him in medical school. Through Long years of medical training Halstead said his endurance and stamina never wavered. For exercise he routinely  flights of stairs. Twenty four hour adj were common during inter snip and residency and he was always Able to do the Job. Except for a paralysed right Arm polio seemed a half forgotten Nightmare of his youth. That changed in 1982 while Halstead was on the faculty and medical staff at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Over several weeks he noticed an unusual weariness and loss of Energy. Then one evening while driving Home he stopped at a red Light and promptly fell asleep. Halstead said he began to be fatigued by Midas Lemoon most Days and often had to Stop and sleep. His legs Aiso lost their Power just walking across parking lots at the huge Houston medical Center became a struggle. There was no More running up stairs or working 12 to 14 hours a Day. And occasionally there were breathing problems. He was not alone. Other doctors began to report treating polio survivors with similar symptoms. Medical experts were mystified but it was dear that patients by the hundreds were in the grip of some new syndrome. Since then doctors have conducted formal research trying to find the precise cause of the problem and the proper treatment final answers Are still elusive. But slowly medical science is learning. Halstead now uses a motorized cart to travel the corridors of the National rehabilitation Hospital. He puts fewer demands on his body. And in the afternoon the doctor retreats to his office closes the door and takes a Nap. 5-year study confirms herpes drug benefits by the Washington Post a new study finds that Long term use of the anti viral medication acyclovir not Only eliminates attacks in up to 90 percent of genital herpes sufferers but also seems to produce few Side effects and does not cause the development of resistant strains of the herpes virus. Baylor College of Medicine researchers in Houston enrolled 1,100 herpes patients in their five year study. Participants experienced about 12 painful outbreaks per year before beginning daily doses of acyclovir an anti viral medication. During the first year of the study however attacks declined to less than two per year for 90 percent of those who  compared to a group of herpes patients who took a Placebo. Herpes outbreaks declined even More in 389 of the 430 people who continued to take the drug daily for the next four years the study found. Ninety percent of these patients were recurrence free dermatologist Leonard h. Goldberg and his colleagues reported in this month s Issue of the archives of dermatology. Therapy was ,1 the author wrote noting that acyclovir usage was not associated with serious Side effects or.  chronic use of the medication also did not produce any evidence of viral resistance tothe acyclovir a concern for those who remain on the drug Long term. Genital herpes is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the herpes simplex  include pain and itching that May develop into swollen glands fever headache joint pain and general fatigue. During repeated flare ups these symptoms Worsen and result in tiny fluid filled sores that crust Over Scab and heal in the genital area. Recurrent genital herpes can cause significant physical discomfort and emotional  said Goldberg the Lead investigator of the study. Previous studies have shown that acyclovir is effective in Short term treatment. But this is the longest study published of acyclovir said Steven e. Straus chief of the lab of clinical investigation at the National Institute of allergy and infectious diseases. This shows that the drug continues to be effective throughout five years of use. That i continues to be Safe and Well tolerated said Straus who was one of the first scientists to study the use of acyclovir against herpes. I shows that Long term use is  but the study does t answer the question of whether patients who control their herpes outbreaks with acyclovir can spread the infection to their sexual partners. Previous studies have shown Straus said that people with genital herpes can transmit the virus even when they Are not experiencing an attack. Also unresolved is How Long it May be necessary to take the drug to prevent attacks. The Medicine costs $1 to $3 a Day. Straus recommends taking patients of acyclovir every year to see whether attacks return. After about five years of therapy probably one Quarter to one third of individuals would not need it acyclovir said. Tuesday july 37,1993 Thi stars and stapes