🔗 Share this article Understanding Motor Neurone Disease and Are Athletes More Likely to Receive a Diagnosis? Motor neurone disease affects nerve cells located in the cerebrum and spinal cord, that instruct your muscles what to do. This leads them to weaken and stiffen over time and usually affects your walking, speak, eat and breathe. It is a relatively rare disease that is most frequent in individuals above age fifty, but adults of any age can be impacted. An individual's chance in their life of developing MND is 1 out of 300. Approximately five thousand people in the UK will have the condition at any one time. Researchers are uncertain what causes MND, but it is probable to be a combination of the genetic material - or inherited characteristics - you get from your mother and father when you are delivered, and additional environmental influences. For up to one in 10 individuals with MND, particular genetic factors play a much larger role. There is usually a family history of the disease in these cases. Identifying the Early Symptoms of the Condition? MND affects everyone differently. Not everyone has the same symptoms, or experiences them in the identical sequence. The disease can progress at varying rates too. Among the most common signs are: loss of muscle strength and cramps rigid articulations difficulties in your speech complications involving swallowing, consuming food and drinking reduced cough reflex Is There a Treatment? No definitive treatment, but there is optimism stemming from therapies focused on different forms of MND. MND is not one disease - it is really several that culminate in the death of motor neurones. An innovative medication known as tofersen works in just 2% of individuals, however it has been demonstrated to decelerate - and in certain instances even undo - a portion of the symptoms of MND. It has been referred to as "truly remarkable" and a "real moment of hope" for the entire condition. Although the medication has recently received approval in the EU, it is not currently accessible in the UK. Just one drug presently approved for the treatment of MND in the UK and approved by the NHS. Riluzole could decelerate the advancement of the condition and increase survival by several months, but it cannot repair harm. Determining Survival Rate for MND? Certain individuals can live for many years with MND, such as renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, who was identified at the twenty-two years old and lived to 76. But for the majority, the illness progresses quickly and survival time is just a few years. According to the charity MND Association, the disease claims the lives of a third of people within a year and more than half within 24 months of diagnosis. As the neurons stop working, ingestion and respiration become more challenging and numerous individuals need nutritional support or breathing apparatus to help them stay alive. Are Athletes At Greater Risk to Be Diagnosed? The exact cause has not been identified, but top-level sportspeople appear disproportionately affected by MND. A pair of research projects from 2005 and 2009 showed that soccer players have an increased risk of contracting MND. Research from 2022 by the Glasgow University including 400 ex- Scotland rugby union players determined they had an higher likelihood of developing the disease. Scientists additionally discovered that rugby players who have suffered multiple concussions have physiological variations that may make them more prone to contracting MND. The MND Association recognizes there is a "link" between collision sports and MND. It added that while the sportspeople researched were more likely to develop MND, it did not prove the athletic activities directly caused the disease. The organization also stresses that "documented MND cases in this research is remains quite small, and so determining there is a certain elevated chance could be misinterpreted if this is merely a grouping due to random chance". Multiple high-profile sports figures have been identified with the condition in recent years. These include former rugby union players, soccer players, and cricket athletes. Across the Atlantic, baseball player Lou Gehrig died from the condition aged 39.