Pathophysiology Of Guillain-Barre Syndrome

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This paper will discuss what Guillain-Barre Syndrome is. It will also discuss what causes Guillain-Barre Syndrome and how to treat it. This paper will go into detail about the pathophysiology of GBS. The information in this paper was gathered from the Williams/Hopper book used for the nursing program and an article titled “Recent developments and future directions in Guillain-Barre syndrome” written by Helmar C Lehmann Richard A.C. Hughes, Bernd C Kieseier, and Hans-Peter Hartung. Also used for this paper was the article “The risk of Guillain-Barre Syndrome after influenza vaccination” written by Mark P. Walberg, PharmD, PhD and the website http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/315632-overview These references go into detail about Guillain-Barre Syndrome from the pathophysiology to the causes and treatments. Guillain-Barre Syndrome is a disorder that attacks the peripheral nervous system. The disorder is abbreviated as GBS. GBS is also known as Guillain-Barre-Strohl syndrome, Landry’s paralysis, and acute inflammatory polyneuropathy.” http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/315632-overview” Because it is not currently clear if there is a disease-causing agent involved with Guillain-Barre it has been classified as a disorder, instead of a disease. GBS is an autoimmune disorder in that the body starts attacking itself. The pathophysiology of the disease starts when the myelin sheath of both the spinal and cranial nerves are demyelinated. Then the presence of lymphocytes and macrophages, which are inflammatory infiltrates, add fuel to the fire so to say. Lymphocytes infiltrate the spinal and cranial nerves and the macrophages demyelinate the myelin sheaths. The demyelination of the nerves causes axonal atrophy, whic... ... middle of paper ... ...sed to help patients with slow recovery or suffering severe disease. IVIG(Intravenous immunoglobulin) is a blood product administered intravenously. It contains the pooled, polyvalent, IgG antibodies extracted from the plasma of over one thousand blood donors. There is no known cure for Guillain-Barre syndrome. It is however treatable, with the majority of people making a full recovery. There are a number of different ways to treat the disease. Therapies include speech, respiratory physical, occupational and IVIG’s. Medications used to help treat GBS include low-molecular weight heparins such as Lovenox, Fragmin and Tinzaparin. These are used to treat the prophylaxis of deep venous thrombosis. Other medications include Tylenol, Ibuprofen, and Naproxen. These are used to treat pain associated with GBS (http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/315632-overview)

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