Another successful therapy for Guillain-Barre is high-dose immunoglobulin therapy, which gives intravenous injections of the proteins the immune system uses to attack invading organisms. The proteins normally help the immune system battling invaders, and by taking donor-provided doses of allegedly healthy immunoglobulins, it seems to calm the immune system’s attack. Again, researchers are not sure why or how it works, but it does aid the patient.

Steroid hormones are also thought to help with immune system issues and lessen the severity. However, results in clinical trials have not been promising, and some believe the steroids may actually contribute to making the Guillain-Barre symptoms worse.

The key to treating this syndrome is to keep the patient alive and the body functioning in its breathing, heart rate and blood flow during the worst of the attack, giving the nervous system time to recover and fight back. This means hooking the patient up to an elaborate network of ventilator, heart monitor and other machines that help monitor or stimulate certain body parts. Most Guillain-Barre patients are placed in intensive care units, where they receive round-the-clock observation and treatment. Doctors can also watch for such side effects as pneumonia and bedsores that can accompany any paralysis.

While Guillain-Barre can offer some harrowing moments where the patient’s life may hang in the balance, those that survive it have a generally decent prognosis. Most recover fully, with about 30 percent exhibiting some weakness up to three years later. Some three percent of patients experience some relapse of Guillain-Barre, and about three to five percent can die, mostly because their chest muscles are paralyzed prior to hospitalization.