Understanding MND and Do Sportspeople More Likely to Receive a Diagnosis?

Motor neurone disease affects nerves located in the cerebrum and spine, which tell your muscles what to do.

This leads them to weaken and become rigid over time and typically impacts how you walk, talk, eat and breathe.

This is a relatively rare condition that is most frequent in individuals over 50, but grown-ups of all ages can be affected.

A person's lifetime risk of developing MND is one in 300.

About 5,000 people in the UK will have the condition at any given moment.

Researchers are not sure what causes MND, but it is probable to be a mix of the genes - or biological traits - you inherit from your mother and father when you are delivered, and other environmental influences.

For up to 10% of people with MND, particular genetic factors are far more significant.

There is usually a hereditary background of the illness in such instances.

Identifying the Early Symptoms of the Disease?

MND impacts each person uniquely.

Not all individuals has the identical signs, or encounters them in the identical sequence.

The disease can progress at varying rates too.

Some of the most frequent indicators are:

• loss of muscle strength and muscle spasms
• rigid articulations
• difficulties in your speech
• complications involving ingesting, consuming food and drinking
• weakened coughing

Is There a Cure?

No cure, but there is hope coming from therapies focused on various types of MND.

MND is not a single illness - it is really multiple that culminate in the demise of nerve cells.

A new drug known as tofersen works in only one in 50 patients, however it has been shown to decelerate - and in some cases even undo - some of the symptoms of MND.

It has been referred to as "truly remarkable" and a "real moment of hope" for the whole disease.

Even though the medication has recently been approved in the European Union, it is not currently accessible in the UK.

Just one pharmaceutical presently approved for the treatment of MND in the UK and endorsed by the NHS.

Riluzole could decelerate the progression of the condition and increase survival by a few months, but it cannot repair harm.

What is Survival Rate for MND?

Some people can survive for decades with MND, such as theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who was identified at the twenty-two years old and survived until 76.

But for the majority, the disease advances rapidly and life expectancy is only several years.

According to the non-profit MND Association, the condition kills a one-third of people within a year and over 50% within 24 months of identification.

As the nerve cells cease functioning, ingestion and respiration become increasingly difficult and many people need nutritional support or respiratory aids to help them remain living.

Do Sports Professionals At Greater Risk to Be Diagnosed?

The precise reason has not yet been found, but elite athletes appear overrepresented by MND.

Two studies from 2005 and 2009 indicated that professional footballers have an increased risk of developing MND.

Research from 2022 by the Glasgow University including four hundred ex- Scotland rugby union players concluded they had an increased risk of developing the condition.

Researchers also found that rugby athletes who have suffered multiple concussions have physiological variations that may make them more prone to contracting MND.

The MND Association acknowledges there is a "link" between collision sports and MND.

It noted that while the athletes researched were more likely to develop MND, it did not prove 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 certain elevated chance could be misunderstood if this is simply a cluster due to statistical coincidence".

Multiple high-profile sports figures have been diagnosed with the condition in the past few years.

These include ex- rugby internationals, footballers, and cricketers.

Across the Atlantic, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig died from the condition aged 39.