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Motor neurone disease impacts nerve cells found in the brain and spinal cord, which tell your muscles how to function.

This leads them to weaken and become rigid over time and usually affects how you walk, speak, eat and respire.

This is a relatively rare disease that is most frequent in people over 50, but grown-ups of all ages can be impacted.

An individual's lifetime risk of contracting MND is 1 out of 300.

About 5,000 adults in the UK are living with the condition at any given moment.

Scientists are not sure what causes MND, but it is probable to be a combination of the genes - or inherited characteristics - you inherit from your mother and father when you are born, and additional environmental influences.

In as many as 10% of individuals with MND, specific genes are far more significant.

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

What are the Early Symptoms of the Disease?

MND affects everyone differently.

Not all individuals has the identical signs, or experiences them in the identical sequence.

The condition can advance at different speeds too.

Some of the most common signs are:

• loss of muscle strength and cramps
• stiff joints
• difficulties in how you speak
• issues with ingesting, eating and drinking
• reduced cough reflex

Does There Exist a Treatment?

No cure, but there is hope coming from treatments focused on different forms of MND.

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

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

It has been described as "truly remarkable" and a "significant point of optimism" for the whole disease.

Although the drug 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 endorsed by the NHS.

Riluzole could decelerate the advancement of the condition and prolong life by several months, but it cannot repair harm.

Determining Survival Rate for MND?

Certain individuals can survive for decades 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 illness advances rapidly and survival time is only several years.

According to the charity MND Association, the disease claims the lives of a one-third of people within a twelve months and more than half within two years of diagnosis.

As the neurons cease functioning, ingestion and breathing become more challenging and many people need nutritional support or breathing apparatus to help them stay alive.

Do Sports Professionals At Greater Risk to Be Diagnosed?

The precise reason has not been identified, 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 former Scotland rugby union players determined they had an higher likelihood of developing the disease.

Researchers additionally discovered that rugby players who have experienced repeated head injuries have biological differences that could render them more susceptible to developing MND.

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

It noted that while the sportspeople researched were more likely to acquire MND, it did not prove the athletic activities directly led to the condition.

The charity also emphasises that "reported MND instances in this research is remains quite small, and so determining there is a certain elevated chance could be misunderstood if this is simply a cluster due to statistical coincidence".

Multiple prominent athletes have been identified with the condition in recent years.

This encompasses ex- rugby union internationals, footballers, and cricketers.

In the United States, baseball player Lou Gehrig died from the condition aged 39.