There has been so much talk these last few years about Mad Cow Disease and food contaminated with E.Coli. You would be hard-pressed to find someone who has not heard of them, and chances are you know at least one person who changed his diet because of these threats. As scary as these diseases are, they are not the only food borne illnesses threatening meat eaters. There is another illness, known as a ‘syndrome’ because there is no known single cause and it must be diagnosed by its symptoms - Guillain-Barré Syndrome (ghee yan-bah ray), also commonly known as GBS.

In July 1997, my husband contracted Guillain-Barré, and our lives changed forever. This illness, named after the Frenchmen who first described it, is a terrifying illness which causes gradual paralysis. They say that 3 to 5% of cases lead to death, especially when the internal organs and breathing are affected requiring that the patient be placed in intensive care. It is estimated that 85% of sufferers do recover enough to continue their lives at a normal physical level. It can, however, take years to fully recover, and some people never regain their former health.

The affected person’s nerves are attacked by the body’s own immune system, effectively destroying parts of the nerve (the myelin covering and sometimes the conducting part of the nerve, the axon). This leads to strange, tingly sensations and/or pain, and then paralysis starting at the extremities and working inward. Some people experience only extreme weakness and partial paralysis, while others, like my husband, must be hospitalized for a time. He was completely paralysed from his shoulders down and bedridden for two weeks. A body builder and an athletic man, he lost nearly 16 kilos in less than a month, much of it muscle tissue. He was unable to return to work for five months during which time he underwent intense physical rehabilitation and religiously stuck to a daily walking program. He used a cane for over a year.

It took three years before he could life weights again consistently because he did not have the strength and stamina to do strenuous exercise and experienced much pain. During that time he focused on doing cardiovascular work, barely managing to get through the day. Today he is able to maintain a regular weight training routine, although he still has residual effects in about 10% of his muscles which do not respond normally, making his gains slow. Victims of the illness joke that GBS stands for “gets better slowly,” and we can attest to the patience and dedication required to rebuild a life after such an illness. I attribute his health today to his determination and his healthy diet and lifestyle.

I have read of accounts of two family members or a group of people in a community who are simultaneously affected, and yet they say this is not a disease that can be spread from one person to another. How then is it possible that two people in the same family could be struck with this syndrome at the same time? They say the chances of getting GBS are estimated to be one in 200,000, so what is it that is common among these people?

When I first learned of my husband’s diagnosis, my research turned up many possible causes, all of which represent an assault on the immune system. My simple understanding is that the victim’s body interprets the assault incorrectly, turning on itself and attacking the nerves. Two of the many different immune system assault listed in the research as often experienced prior to the onset of GBS included vaccinations and contracting an intestinal tract bacteria known as Campylobacter Jejeuni. One article mentioned that Campylobacter can be spread by undercooked chicken. According to the US Department of Agriculture, this is the most frequently isolated cause of food borne diarrhoea. This stuck with me because, at the time, we had been raising chickens in our yard for food. We were not vegetarian back then, and I remembered one meal we had eaten where the chicken was undercooked. My husband had diarrhoea three days prior to experiencing his first symptoms. H He Had also had a yellow fever vaccine one week earlier. Perhaps these two things combined to damage his immune system, but we will never know for sure.

Since then I have read other articles more directly implicating the deadly bacteria in the development of GBS and warning people to be sure and cook their chicken and turkey thoroughly. Well, I have a better idea – don’t take a chance at all and avoid poultry entirely! When I hear my meat-eating friends debating whether or not to even believe the risk of Mad Cow Disease reaching the US, I am shocked by their lack of concern. I’ve spoken with hunters who “aren’t sure” how the new reports of deer carrying the disease are going to affect them and their sport.

I speak from experience when I say that food-borne illnesses are real, and they can affect you and your family in ways that are far worse than just a night of vomiting and diarrheoa. I cannot begin to imagine what life would be like for a baby or child with GBS (yes, it has happened) never knowing what if feels like to have a healthy body right from the start. I would never knowingly put my children in a position of risk like this. We would never risk our own lives in this way.

I wish we could turn back the hands of time so that we could have avoided all the pain and heartbreak that came with watching a healthy and vibrant man deteriorate before our eyes. He was brave and worked hard to regain his health, and I will be forever thankful that we can count him among the successful cases of GBS survivors. If we knew then what we know today things might have been different. One thing is for sure – the future will be different – for us and for our children. In sharing our story, I hope I can help to make a difference for someone else.

Melanie Wilson and her family are vegans today and thankful to have come through this period of their lives healthy and happy. She is the editor of ‘Vegetarian Baby and Child’ magazine and ‘Vegetarianteen.com’ online magazine.