Understanding Motor Neurone Disease and Are Athletes At Higher Risk to Be Diagnosed?

MND affects nerve cells located in the cerebrum and spine, that instruct your muscle tissue what to do.

This leads them to weaken and stiffen gradually and usually affects how you walk, speak, eat and respire.

This is a quite uncommon disease that is most common in individuals above age fifty, but adults of all ages can be impacted.

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

About five thousand people in the UK will have the disease at any one time.

Scientists are uncertain the cause of MND, but it is likely to be a combination of the genes - or biological traits - you get from your parents when you are born, and additional lifestyle factors.

For up to one in 10 individuals with MND, particular genetic factors are far more significant.

There is usually a family history of the illness in these cases.

What are the Early Symptoms of the Disease?

MND impacts each person uniquely.

Not everyone has the same symptoms, or encounters them in the same order.

The condition can advance at varying rates too.

Among the most common signs are:

• muscle weakness and muscle spasms
• stiff joints
• problems with how you speak
• issues with swallowing, consuming food and taking fluids
• weakened coughing

Is There a Cure?

There is no definitive treatment, but there is hope coming from therapies targeted at different forms of MND.

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

A new drug called tofersen is effective in just 2% of individuals, however it has been shown to slow - and in some cases even undo - a portion of the manifestations of MND.

It has been referred to as "absolutely groundbreaking" and a "significant point of hope" for the entire condition.

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

There is only one pharmaceutical presently approved for the management of MND in the UK and approved by the NHS.

Riluzole may slow down the progression of the condition and prolong life by several months, but it does not reverse harm.

Determining Survival Rate for MND?

Certain individuals can survive for decades with MND, including renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, who was diagnosed at the twenty-two years old and lived to 76.

But for the majority, the illness advances rapidly and survival time is just a few years.

Based on the charity MND Association, the condition claims the lives of a third of people within a twelve months and more than half within 24 months of diagnosis.

As the neurons cease functioning, ingestion and breathing become more challenging and many people need feeding tubes or respiratory aids to help them remain living.

Do Sports Professionals At Greater Risk to Receive a Diagnosis?

The exact cause has not yet been found, but top-level sportspeople seem overrepresented by MND.

Two studies from 2005 and 2009 indicated that professional footballers have an elevated chance of contracting MND.

Research from 2022 by the Glasgow University involving four hundred former Scotland rugby athletes concluded they had an higher likelihood of developing the disease.

Scientists additionally discovered that rugby athletes who have suffered repeated head injuries have biological differences that could render them more prone to contracting MND.

The MND Association recognizes there is a "correlation" between collision sports and MND.

It added that while the athletes researched were more likely to acquire MND, it did not prove the athletic activities directly led to the disease.

The organization also emphasises that "documented MND instances in these studies is remains quite small, and so concluding there is a certain elevated chance could be misinterpreted if this is merely a grouping due to statistical coincidence".

Multiple high-profile athletes have been diagnosed with the disease in recent years.

These include ex- rugby internationals, soccer players, and cricket athletes.

Across the Atlantic, baseball player Lou Gehrig died from the disease at the age of 39.