Bulbar Polio Causing Death
Question: According to the WHO and CDC, most polio deaths stemmed from paralytic breathing difficulty/ suffocation. Is that right?
Dr. Bruno’s Response: No. The frightening image of the iron lung causes people who aren't familiar with the physiology and history of bulbar polio to assume breathing failure was ”the killer”. While the numbers varied from outbreak to outbreak, about 70% of those who were in an iron lung died. But those with breathing problems could have had the two other bulbar symptoms: impaired swallowing and cardiovascular dysfunction. Just over 50% with bulbar polio had trouble swallowing, 5% of whom died. Almost 10% had trouble controlling their heart rate and blood pressure, more than 80% of whom died. Since polioviruses always affected the bulbar part of the brain, (the brain stem), everyone had bulbar polio whether there were symptoms or not.
The brain stem controls many automatic functions (e.g., breathing, swallowing, intestinal movement, blood pressure, heart rate). So, polio survivors having abnormalities with these functions today are showing evidence of poliovirus-damage to the “bulb” of the brain from the acute polio attack.