Understanding Motor Neurone Disease and Are Athletes More Likely to Be Diagnosed?

MND affects nerves found in the cerebrum and spine, that instruct your muscles how to function.

This causes them to weaken and become rigid gradually and typically impacts your walking, talk, eat and breathe.

This is a relatively rare disease that is most frequent in individuals above age fifty, but grown-ups of any age can be impacted.

A person's chance in their life of developing MND is one in 300.

Approximately five thousand adults in the UK are living with the condition at any given moment.

Scientists are not sure the cause of MND, but it is likely to be a mix of the genes - or biological traits - you get from your mother and father when you are delivered, and other lifestyle factors.

In as many as one in 10 people with MND, particular genetic factors play a much larger role.

Typically there is a family history of the disease in such instances.

Identifying the First Signs of the Condition?

MND affects everyone differently.

Not everyone has the same symptoms, or experiences them in the identical sequence.

The disease can progress at varying rates too.

Among the most frequent signs are:

• loss of muscle strength and cramps
• stiff joints
• difficulties in your speech
• issues with ingesting, eating and drinking
• weakened coughing

Does There Exist a Treatment?

There is no cure, but there is optimism stemming from treatments focused on different forms of MND.

MND is not a single illness - it is actually several that result in the demise of motor neurones.

An innovative medication called tofersen works in just 2% of individuals, however it has been demonstrated to decelerate - and in certain instances even undo - some of the symptoms of MND.

It has been referred to as "truly remarkable" and a "real moment of optimism" for the entire condition.

Even though the medication has recently been approved in the EU, it is not yet available in the UK.

There is only one pharmaceutical currently licensed for the treatment of MND in the UK and endorsed by the NHS.

Riluzole may slow down the progression of the condition and increase survival by a few months, but it cannot repair damage.

What is Life Expectancy for MND?

Some people can live for many years with MND, including theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who was diagnosed at the twenty-two years old and lived to 76.

But for the majority, the disease advances rapidly and life expectancy is just a few years.

According to the non-profit MND Association, the condition claims the lives of a third of individuals within a year and over 50% within 24 months of diagnosis.

As the nerve cells stop working, swallowing and breathing become more challenging and numerous individuals need nutritional support or breathing apparatus to help them remain living.

Do Sports Professionals More Likely to Be Diagnosed?

The exact cause has not yet been found, but elite athletes seem disproportionately affected by MND.

Two studies from 2005 and 2009 showed that soccer players have an elevated chance of developing MND.

A 2022 study by the Glasgow University including 400 former Scotland rugby athletes determined they had an higher likelihood of acquiring the disease.

Researchers additionally discovered that rugby athletes who have suffered multiple concussions have biological differences that could render them more susceptible to developing MND.

The MND Association acknowledges there is a "correlation" between contact sports and MND.

It added that while the sportspeople studied were had a greater chance to acquire MND, it did not show the athletic activities directly caused the condition.

The charity also stresses that "documented MND cases in this research is remains quite small, and so concluding there is a definite increased risk could be misunderstood if this is simply a cluster due to random chance".

Several prominent sports figures have been identified with the condition in recent years.

These include ex- rugby union internationals, soccer players, and cricketers.

Across the Atlantic, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig died from the disease at the age of 39.