Can GBS attack body muscles only?

Hi Giovanni,

Good question. Unfortunately, I haven’t heard of any cases where the nerves weren’t involved when GBS was diagnosed. The only suggestions I have is to try to search the net as much as possible and attempt to question Neurologists.

I hope you and your friend are able to find the answers and hopefully, a proper diagnosis.

Take care,

Tina

Giovanni,

You have asked difficult questions for a difficult case.

Consider these factors from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH):

“[I]The signs and symptoms of the syndrome can be quite varied, so doctors may, on rare occasions, find it difficult to diagnose Guillain-Barré in its earliest stages.

1. The first symptoms of this disorder include varying degrees of weakness or tingling sensations in the legs. In many instances the weakness and abnormal sensations spread to the arms and upper body.

2. Most people reach the stage of greatest weakness within the first 2 weeks after symptoms appear, and by the third week of the illness 90 percent of all patients are at their weakest.

3. Because the signals to and from the arms and legs must travel the longest distances they are most vulnerable to interruption. Therefore, muscle weakness and tingling sensations usually first appear in the hands and feet and progress upwards.

4. In Guillain-Barré, reflexes such as knee jerks are usually lost.

5. In Guillain-Barré patients, the cerebrospinal fluid that bathes the spinal cord and brain contains more protein than usual. Therefore a physician may decide to perform a spinal tap, a procedure in which the doctor inserts a needle into the patient’s lower back to draw cerebrospinal fluid from the spinal column. [/I]

Finally, “[I]Several disorders have symptoms similar to those found in Guillain-Barré, so doctors examine and question patients carefully before making a diagnosis. Collectively, the signs and symptoms form a certain pattern that helps doctors differentiate Guillain-Barré from other disorders.[/I]”

The ‘funny feelings’ in the legs as a first sign seems to be an unequivocal diagnostic tool, as does the rapidity of the symptoms.

Consider how long from first symptoms to absolute worse. Of course 10%, or more of patients, don’t fit these guidelines. But, if he does than forse è così. (maybe it is so)

It would appear that corticosteroids are not indicated for GBS.

Quoted from [url]http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0005136/[/url]

“[I]Research on corticosteroid therapy

To find out whether corticosteroids speed up recovery and reduce the effects of GBS, researchers from the Cochrane Collaboration analysed clinical trials of this treatment. The Cochrane Collaboration is an international network of researchers who systematically review trials that test the benefits of health care interventions. They found 8 trials. Only 6 of these trials measured disability in a way that could help answer important questions about the usefulness of corticosteroid therapy for patients. You can click here to read about why it is important to carry out trials in a particular way to find out whether a medical intervention helps. The 6 trials that were included in the analysis involved over 580 people with GBS.

After a year the people who had corticosteroids did not have less disability than people who took a dummy drug (placebo) or had immunoglobulin therapy only. Serious adverse effects from short courses of corticosteroids were not common, although people who had corticosteroids might have been a bit more likely to develop diabetes. There was some evidence that giving corticosteroids into the veins (intravenous therapy) along with immunoglobulin therapy in the early weeks might have a short-term benefit, but more research is needed to be sure.

The researchers found that corticosteroids might actually delay recovery when taken as tablets. More research is needed to be sure about this as well, though. One possible reason could be that, while early intravenous treatment might have some benefit in the acute phase of inflammation, tablets are usually taken over longer periods of time, and perhaps they start to do some unknown kind of harm after a while. It is theoretically possible, for example, that while the corticosteroids have a beneficial effect on the inflammation of the nerves, they could have a different effect on the muscles. The researchers concluded that immunoglobulin therapy can improve symptoms 4 weeks after GBS, but it is not certain that adding corticosteroids to the treatment will help.[/I]”

‘Multifocal Motor Neuropathy’ And I think you mite find what you need in this search.
It can run similar and or parallel courses to GBS – it’s what makes it so hard to diagnose and differentiate.

Good luck!