Guillain Barré Syndrome
GBS/CIDP described
GBS is a syndrome; i.e. it is a collection of symptoms and signs. It is not a single disease, but rather consists of serveral related diseases. It is a rare disorder affecting 1–2 people per 100,000 fairly consistently around the world. This implies that about 40 to 80 New Zealanders are affected each year although recent research has suggested this may be as high as 100 annually. All of these diseases have in common an immune attack on the components of the peripheral motor sensory nervous system resulting in rapidly progressive weakness, sometimes progressing to severe or even complete paralysis. Progression of the disease always stops within 4 weeks and there is a prolonged recovery phase.