Given the link between lifestyle and the disease, it is important for people who have post-polio syndrome to receive a diagnosis early so they can adjust their behaviour to prevent further damage.
Despite the importance of receiving a diagnosis, the average waiting times for a diagnosis are extremely high – mostly because doctors aren’t looking out for the condition — Richardson suggests.
Dhrona suggests the “average wait time of diagnosis is six years, but that is actually quite optimistic”. He adds that if people don’t know they had polio in the first place, they might not receive a diagnosis for decades.
Richardson said: “I’ll bet nobody’s thought of asking, ‘did you ever have polio?’ because doctors are unlikely to look out for it today. Doctors today, probably born after the polio epidemics had ended, let alone have any training on it, have no idea what to look out for and don’t look out for it.