🔗 Share this article Understanding Motor Neurone Disease and Are Athletes More Likely to Receive a Diagnosis? Motor neurone disease affects nerves found in the brain and spinal cord, which tell your muscle tissue how to function. This causes them to lose strength and become rigid over time and usually affects how you walk, talk, eat and breathe. It is a relatively rare disease that is most common in people over 50, but adults of any age can be impacted. A person's lifetime risk of developing MND is one in 300. Approximately five thousand people in the UK are living with the disease at any given moment. 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 other environmental influences. In as many as 10% of people with MND, particular genetic factors play a much larger role. Typically there is a family history of the disease in these cases. What are the Early Symptoms of the Condition? MND affects everyone differently. Not everyone has the identical signs, or experiences them in the identical sequence. The disease can advance at varying rates too. Some of the most common indicators are: loss of muscle strength and cramps stiff joints problems with how you speak issues with ingesting, consuming food and drinking weakened coughing Does There Exist a Treatment? There is no cure, but there is hope coming from treatments focused on various types of MND. MND is not a single illness - it is really several that culminate in the demise of motor neurones. A new drug called tofersen works in only one in 50 individuals, however it has been demonstrated to decelerate - and in some cases even undo - a portion of the symptoms of MND. It has been referred to as "absolutely groundbreaking" and a "real moment of optimism" for the entire condition. Even though the drug has recently received approval in the EU, it is not yet available in the UK. Just one pharmaceutical presently approved for the treatment of MND in the UK and approved by the NHS. Riluzole could decelerate the advancement of the disease and prolong life by several months, but it does not reverse harm. What is Survival Rate for MND? Certain individuals can live for many years with MND, including renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, who was diagnosed at the age of 22 and lived to 76. But for the majority, the illness advances rapidly and survival time is only several years. According to the non-profit MND Association, the condition claims the lives of a one-third of people within a year and more than half within two years of identification. As the neurons cease functioning, swallowing and breathing become more challenging and many people need feeding tubes or breathing apparatus to help them stay alive. Do Sports Professionals More Likely to Receive a Diagnosis? The precise reason has not yet been found, but top-level sportspeople seem disproportionately affected by MND. Two studies from 2005 and 2009 showed that professional footballers have an elevated chance of developing MND. Research from 2022 by the Glasgow University including four hundred ex- Scotland rugby athletes concluded they had an increased risk of acquiring the disease. Researchers additionally discovered that rugby players who have experienced repeated head injuries have physiological variations that could render them more susceptible to developing MND. The MND Association recognizes there is a "correlation" between contact sports and MND. It noted that while the athletes studied were more likely to develop MND, it did not prove the sports directly caused the condition. The charity also emphasises that "documented MND instances in this research is remains quite small, and so concluding there is a definite increased risk could be misinterpreted if this is merely a grouping due to statistical coincidence". Several high-profile sports figures have been identified with the disease in the past few years. This encompasses ex- rugby union players, footballers, and cricket athletes. In the United States, baseball player Lou Gehrig succumbed to the disease at the age of 39.