What is MND and Are Athletes More Likely to Receive a Diagnosis?
Motor neurone disease affects nerve cells found in the brain and spinal cord, which tell your muscle tissue what to do.
This leads them to weaken and become rigid gradually and typically impacts your walking, speak, consume food and breathe.
It is a quite uncommon disease that is most frequent in individuals over 50, but grown-ups of all ages can be impacted.
An individual's chance in their life of contracting MND is 1 out of 300.
About 5,000 adults in the UK will have the disease at any given moment.
Researchers are not sure the cause of MND, but it is likely to be a mix of the genetic material - or biological traits - you get from your parents when you are delivered, and additional lifestyle factors.
For up to one in 10 people with MND, specific genes are far more significant.
There is usually a family history of the illness in such instances.
What are the Early Symptoms of the Condition?
MND affects everyone differently.
Not all individuals has the identical signs, or experiences them in the same order.
The condition can advance at different speeds too.
Some of the most common indicators are:
- muscle weakness and muscle spasms
- stiff joints
- difficulties in how you speak
- issues with ingesting, consuming food and taking fluids
- weakened coughing
Does There Exist a Cure?
There is no definitive treatment, but there is hope coming from treatments targeted at various types of MND.
MND is not a single illness - it is really several that culminate in the demise of nerve cells.
An innovative medication known as tofersen works in only one in 50 patients, however it has been demonstrated to decelerate - and in certain instances even undo - a portion of the manifestations of MND.
It has been referred to as "truly remarkable" and a "real moment of hope" for the whole disease.
Although the medication has recently received approval in the EU, it is not yet available in the UK.
There is only one drug presently approved for the treatment of MND in the UK and endorsed by the NHS.
Riluzole may slow down the progression of the disease and increase survival by several months, but it does not reverse harm.
What is Life Expectancy for MND?
Certain individuals can survive for decades with MND, including theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who was identified at the age of 22 and survived until 76.
But for the majority, the disease advances rapidly and life expectancy is only several years.
According to the charity MND Association, the disease kills a third of individuals within a year and over 50% within 24 months of identification.
As the nerve cells stop working, swallowing and respiration become more challenging and numerous individuals need nutritional support 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 appear overrepresented by MND.
Two studies from 2005 and 2009 showed that professional footballers have an increased risk of developing MND.
A 2022 study by the Glasgow University including 400 ex- Scotland rugby athletes concluded they had an higher likelihood of acquiring the condition.
Scientists additionally discovered that rugby athletes who have experienced repeated head injuries have biological differences that may make them more susceptible to developing MND.
The MND Association acknowledges there is a "correlation" between contact sports and MND.
It added that while the sportspeople researched were had a greater chance to acquire MND, it did not show the athletic activities directly caused the disease.
The organization also emphasises that "reported MND instances in this research is still relatively low, and so concluding there is a certain elevated chance could be misunderstood if this is simply a cluster due to statistical coincidence".
Several prominent athletes have been identified with the disease in the past few years.
These include ex- rugby union internationals, footballers, and cricketers.
Across the Atlantic, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig died from the disease at the age of 39.
