🔗 Share this article Understanding Motor Neurone Disease and Are Athletes More Likely to Be Diagnosed? MND affects nerve cells located in the cerebrum and spinal cord, that instruct your muscles how to function. This causes them to weaken and stiffen gradually and typically impacts your walking, talk, consume food and respire. This is a quite uncommon disease that is most common in people above age fifty, but adults of any age can be impacted. An individual'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 the cause of MND, but it is likely to be a mix of the genes - or biological traits - you inherit from your mother and father when you are delivered, and additional environmental influences. In as many as one in 10 people with MND, particular genetic factors play a much larger role. Typically there is a hereditary background of the disease in such instances. What are the First Signs of the Disease? MND affects everyone differently. Not all individuals has the same symptoms, or encounters them in the same order. The condition can progress at different speeds too. Among the most frequent indicators are: loss of muscle strength and muscle spasms stiff joints difficulties in your speech issues with ingesting, consuming food and drinking weakened coughing Does There Exist a Cure? No definitive treatment, but there is hope coming from therapies targeted at various types of MND. MND is not a single illness - it is really multiple that result in the death of nerve cells. A new drug known as tofersen works in only one in 50 individuals, however it has been shown to slow - and in certain instances even reverse - 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 drug 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 approved by the NHS. Riluzole may slow down the progression of the disease and increase survival by several 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 illness progresses quickly and survival time is only several years. Based on the non-profit MND Association, the disease claims the lives of a one-third of people within a year and more than half within 24 months of identification. As the neurons cease functioning, swallowing and respiration become more challenging and many people need feeding tubes or respiratory aids to help them remain living. Are Athletes 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. Research from 2022 by the Glasgow University involving 400 ex- Scotland rugby athletes determined they had an higher likelihood of acquiring the disease. Scientists also found that rugby athletes who have experienced repeated head injuries have biological differences that may make them more prone to developing MND. The MND Association recognizes there is a "link" between contact sports and MND. It noted that while the athletes studied were had a greater chance to develop MND, it did not show the sports directly caused the disease. The organization also emphasises 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 merely a cluster due to statistical coincidence". Multiple high-profile athletes have been diagnosed with the disease in recent years. These include former rugby players, footballers, and cricketers. Across the Atlantic, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig died from the condition at the age of 39.