Guillain-Barre Syndrome

Guillain-Barre Syndrome, (also called acute idiopathic polyneuritis, and Landry’s ascending paralysis) is a disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks part of the peripheral nerves, those outside the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms of this disorder include weakness or tingling in the legs, sometimes the weakness or tingling spread to the arms and upper body. These symptom’s then increase in intensity, until the muscles cannot be used at all and the …

…weakness until a few weeks after the first symptoms occur. The recovery period may be as little as a few weeks or as long as a few years. Fifty to ninety percent will recover completely. About 10 percent to 20 percent of patients will have a relapse at some time. And five percent to fifteen percent will have serious, long term disability. Another 5 percent develop a chronic form of the disorder and don’t recover from it.