Guillain-Barre

Alternative names:

acute idiopathic polyneuritis; acute inflammatory polyneuropathy; infectious polyneuritis; Landry-Guillain-Barre syndrome

Definition:

A disorder involving progressive muscle weakness or paralysis, usually following an infectious illness. It is related to inflammation of multiple nerves.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

Guillain-Barre syndrome is an acute type of nerve inflammation. The inflammation damages portions of the nerve cell, resulting in muscle weakness or paralysis. The damage usually includes loss of the myelin sheath of the nerve (demyelination) ,which slows conduction of impulses through the nerve. The damage may also include destruction of the axon part of the nerve cell (denervation), which blocks conduction through the nerve.

The exact cause of this disorder is not known. It usually follows a minor infection, usually a respiratory (lung) infection or gastrointestinal (gut) infection. The signs of the infection usually have disappeared before the signs of Guillain-Barre begin.

Guillain-Barre syndrome affects approximately 8 out of 100,000 people. It may occur at any age but is most common in people of both sexes between the ages 30 and 50.

Other factors with Guillain-Barre syndrome include AIDS or AIDS-related complex, Mycoplasma infection, measles, herpes simplex, or other viral infection, major surgery within the past 6 weeks, systemic lupus erythematosus, Hodgkin's disease, other malignant diseases, and vaccines such as the antirabies vaccine and the swine flu vaccine.