What is Motor Neurone Disease and Do Sportspeople More Likely to Receive a Diagnosis?

MND impacts nerve cells found in the cerebrum and spinal cord, which tell your muscles how to function.

This causes them to weaken and stiffen over time and usually affects how you walk, talk, eat and respire.

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

An individual's lifetime risk of developing MND is one in 300.

Approximately five thousand adults in the UK are living with the condition at any one time.

Researchers are uncertain what causes MND, but it is probable to be a mix of the genetic material - or biological traits - you get from your mother and father when you are delivered, and additional environmental influences.

For up to 10% of individuals with MND, particular genetic factors play a much larger role.

There is usually a hereditary background of the illness in these cases.

Identifying 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 disease can advance at varying rates too.

Some of the most common indicators are:

• muscle weakness and cramps
• stiff joints
• problems with how you speak
• complications involving ingesting, eating and drinking
• reduced cough reflex

Does There Exist a Cure?

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

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

An innovative medication called tofersen is effective 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 "significant point of hope" for the whole disease.

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

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

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

What is Life Expectancy for MND?

Certain individuals can live for many years with MND, such as theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who was diagnosed at the twenty-two years old and survived until 76.

But for most, the disease progresses quickly and survival time is only several years.

According to the charity MND Association, the condition claims the lives of a one-third of people within a twelve months and over 50% within two years of diagnosis.

As the nerve cells stop working, swallowing and respiration become increasingly difficult and numerous individuals need feeding tubes or breathing apparatus to help them remain living.

Do Sports Professionals At Greater Risk to Be Diagnosed?

The exact cause has not been identified, but elite athletes appear overrepresented by MND.

A pair of research projects from 2005 and 2009 indicated that professional footballers have an elevated chance of developing MND.

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

Scientists additionally discovered that rugby athletes who have experienced multiple concussions have biological differences that could render them more susceptible to contracting MND.

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

It noted that while the athletes researched were more likely to acquire MND, it did not prove the sports directly caused the disease.

The organization also stresses that "documented MND instances in these studies is remains quite small, and so determining there is a definite increased risk could be misunderstood if this is merely a cluster due to random chance".

Multiple prominent sports figures have been identified with the disease in the past few years.

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

In the United States, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig died from the disease at the age of 39.