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Date: Sat, 27 Mar 1999 10:44:47 -0500
From: "Eddie Bollenbach" <edward.bollenbach AT snet.net>
Subject: SYMPATHETIC.NERVOUS.SYSTEMThe sympathetic nervous system is a subcategory of the autonomic nervous system.
Classically, the autonomic system is comprised of involuntary (to a large extent) nervous control. The sympathetic subcategory is the part of the autonomic system that prepares the body for action eg. "a lion jumps in front of you"---your blood leaves the surface areas of your body and is shunted to the muscles, hormones like cortisol and adrenalin are released, pupils constrict, and so on. The parasympathetic does the opposite.
Sympathetic nerves and parasympathetic nerves emerge from different areas of the spinal cord. The conventional wisdom is that these nerves have no receptor for the polio virus and are not affected. However, they may have been affected to some extent, or even infected persistently because of their resistence to infection. Or, there may be impingement on some nerves of the sympathetic nervous system by tissues supported poorly by skeletal muscles affected by polio and PPS.
Hope this helps....
Eddie
edward.bollenbach AT snet.net
Bollenbach AT commnet.edu
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