Social Security and the Diagnosis of “Post-Polio Syndrome”
Question: Is Post-Polio Syndrome an accepted medical diagnosis or does every polio survivor of a certain age just automatically develop muscle weakness, fatigue and pain?
Dr. Bruno’s Response: Polio survivors can develop new symptoms -- overwhelming fatigue, muscle weakness, muscle and joint pain, sleep disorders, heightened sensitivity to anesthesia, cold intolerance, and difficulty swallowing and breathing – at any age. Not all polio survivors develop all of these symptoms and they don't automatically appear. But the presence of one or any number of symptoms in polio survivors, when other causes are ruled out, meet the criteria for accepted medical diagnoses:
"Post-Polio Sequelae" is the US federal designation since 2003 for late onset symptoms related to having had polio, which the Social Security Administration uses for disability determination.
“Post polio progressive muscular atrophy" is the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) name (Code 8B62) for late onset symptoms related to having had polio.
A80 is the ICD-11 code for the signs and symptoms of acute paralytic poliomyelitis caused by the wild virus and shouldn't be used to identify an adult having late onset symptoms.
The name for the diagnosis and your age don't matter. The symptoms and treatment do!
Please see the Procedure for Applying for and Getting Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)
For complete information regarding SSDI - Look under the Subject: "Social Security" in the Index of the ENCYCLOPEDIA of POLIO & PPS