My iron lungs

Developed countries have defeated poliomyelitis, but the victims of the disease still cannot live without a special baroacial: Gizmodo

Poliomyelitis is an extremely dangerous disease that leads to the damage to the central nervous system and muscle paralysis. The poliomyelitis vaccine was invented in the 1950s, and with its help (as well as other drugs that appeared in the 1960s), the disease was gradually defeated almost completely. If in the 1980s up to 350 thousand people became ill annually, then in 2016 only 37 cases were registered. At the same time, those who became infected with polio in childhood still suffer - it is impossible to cure them.

Marta Lillard is 69 years old, she lives in Oklahoma City and sleeps every day in an “iron lung”-a hypobaric baroque, inside which a pressure is created below the atmospheric. She was ill with polio in 1953; Like many survivors, Lillard practically does not work in the respiratory system’s muscles, and it is difficult to breathe. The Gizmodo publication talked with Lillard and two more survivors of polio of the “iron lungs”: perhaps, besides them, no one in the world is more used by such devices.

On the afternoon of March, Lillard helps to breathe the apparatus for ventilation of the lungs with positive pressure: a kind of mask, which itself delivers in light air and, due to the difference in pressure, ensures an exhalation. Such devices have disadvantages, they are not suitable for everyone and can lead to the development of other diseases. Therefore, about half a day, Lillard spends in an iron lung. This is a sealed camera, where the woman’s body fits entirely. The sealed collar is fixed on the neck; Above the camera is a mirror so that Lillard could see what is happening around her.

Inside the "iron lung" alternately decreases the pressure, then rises. This allows you to easily fill with air and exhale without using the muscles of the respiratory system. Cameras began to be massively manufactured in the 1950s after an epidemic of polio in the United States; Patients who needed an “iron lung” often placed together in huge chambers, then multi -seat cameras were invented. Life saved many Poliomelite Poliomelite: sometimes paralysis passed, and the respiratory muscles were restored. For example, actress Mia Farrow in childhood spent about nine months in an iron lung and was able to return to normal life - and then began to fight for the prevention of poliomyelitis and vaccination.

The “iron lung” of Martha Lillard was repeatedly finished and modified, it was assembled from two devices: one went to the woman as a child, she bought the second later from the hands of 8 thousand dollars. Her grandfather made a device for the camera that allows you to close without outside help, and the local engineer attached the motor to tightly tighten the collar. The motor, which lowers pressure in the chamber, had to be changed ten times, but the collars most often require replacement - after a few months of use they stop holding the air and you need to buy a new one. In past decades, the collars cost several dollars, now she buys them for more than $ 100 apiece. If they end, Martha will die.

She will die and if the electricity suddenly turns off at night, and the generator will not work. Once the lock on the collar broke - at that time Lillard was saved by the cleaning lady. Recently, in its area due to snowfall, electricity was turned off for several days, and the generator broke. Rescuers spread their hands and said that they could not help. Lillard recalled the fate of Dain Odell, who lived with the help of an “iron lung” for decades and died in 2008, when her house was de-energized due to bad weather. Fortunately, one of the rescuers returned to her after work and helped to fix the generator.

Lillard allowed the Gizmodo correspondent Jennings Brown to lie in the cell. He describes his sensations like this: “I slowly got used to the mechanical rhythm and began to feel relaxation. I tried to close my mouth, but the air still passed through the closed lips. I felt like a vacuum cleaner. ”

Martha Lillard is one of three people in the United States, who still lives with the "iron lung." Perhaps there are others, but there is no information about them. In 2015, many publications wrote that there were no such people left, but in reality this is not so. The 70-year-old Paul Alexander from Dallas spends almost all the time in the “light” and even learned to use the computer: he presses the buttons and leads the touchpad with a special stylus with the pen that he holds in his mouth.

Alexander was ill with polio in 1952, when he was 6 years old. He remained paralyzed and was forced to spend several hours a day in the “iron lung”, but this did not prevent him from graduating from Texas University, becoming a lawyer and participating in court hearings for a long time. For the past few years, he cannot work fully: if earlier he managed to leave the camera for several hours, now he is no longer there.

Mona Randolph was ill with polio in 1956, when she was 20. She used the “iron lung” for about a year, and then forgot about it for more than 20 years, until she began to suffer from bronchial infections. Doctors advised her to return to the "Iron Light."

Pavel Borisov