Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Struggle With Polio

Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Struggle with Polio Many people believe that all who get polio become paralyzed, but only about twenty-five percent of people diagnosed with polio become paralyzed. Polio affects motor nerves, making muscles weak, and sometimes causing paralysis (UXL). Franklin Delano Roosevelt was one of the people that become paralyzed (Bardhan-Quallen 33). There are many different symptoms of polio; these symptoms can range from mild to very serious. Only about one percent of polio patients experience very serious symptoms (UXL). Some serious symptoms include muscle spasms, paralysis of limbs or breathing muscles, and difficulty swallowing. If a patient contracts a moderate form of polio, the symptoms are similar to that of
Worldwide, there were thirty five-thousand cases in 1998. Since then, it has gone down quite a bit. In 2012 there were only two hundred twenty-three recorded cases of polio (Schlager). In America, there have been no recorded cases since the 1970s (Hecht 29). Polio has many affects on human body; some these effects are very serious while others are not. One serious effect would be paralysis of breathing muscles. Paralysis of breathing muscles can cause death, unless breathing is aided by a device such as the iron lung (Silverstein 61). Polio can also cause patients to have weak muscles for the rest of their life. Weak muscles can be treated by exercise, however they will not be as strong as before the nerves were damaged (UXL).
There are many ways to treat polio, but there is no known cure (Bardhan-Quallen 32). One way to treat polio is to support all body parts (Hecht 81). Another way to help affected muscles is to bathe in warm springs. The natural heat of the warm springs help relax muscles, making them recover faster (Draper 22). In addition to warm springs, hot packs on affected muscles also proves to be effective. One last effective method is getting massages on weak muscles (Draper