What is Motor Neurone Disease and Are Athletes More Likely to Be Diagnosed?
MND impacts nerves located in the brain and spinal cord, which tell your muscle tissue what to do.
This leads them to lose strength and stiffen gradually and typically impacts how you walk, talk, consume food and respire.
This is a relatively rare condition that is most frequent in people over 50, but grown-ups of all ages can be impacted.
An individual's lifetime risk of developing MND is one in 300.
About five thousand adults in the UK are living with the condition at any one time.
Researchers are uncertain what causes MND, but it is likely 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 are far more significant.
Typically there is a hereditary background of the illness in these cases.
What are the First Signs of the Condition?
MND affects everyone differently.
Not everyone has the identical signs, or experiences them in the same order.
The disease can progress at different speeds too.
Some of the most frequent indicators are:
- loss of muscle strength and cramps
- rigid articulations
- problems with your speech
- complications involving swallowing, eating and drinking
- weakened coughing
Does There Exist a Cure?
There is no definitive treatment, but there is optimism coming from therapies targeted at different forms of MND.
MND is not a single illness - it is really several that result in the demise of motor neurones.
An innovative medication called tofersen is effective in just 2% of individuals, however it has been shown to slow - and in certain instances even reverse - some of the symptoms of MND.
It has been described as "truly remarkable" and a "significant point of hope" for the entire condition.
Even though 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 management of MND in the UK and endorsed by the NHS.
Riluzole could decelerate the progression of the disease and increase survival by several months, but it cannot repair harm.
What is Life Expectancy for MND?
Some people can live for many years with MND, including renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, who was identified at the age of 22 and lived to 76.
But for most, the illness progresses quickly and survival time is just a few years.
Based on the charity MND Association, the disease claims the lives of a third of individuals within a year and over 50% within 24 months of diagnosis.
As the neurons stop working, ingestion and respiration become increasingly difficult and many people need feeding tubes or breathing apparatus to help them remain living.
Are Athletes At Greater Risk to Be Diagnosed?
The precise reason has not been identified, but top-level sportspeople seem disproportionately affected by MND.
A pair of research projects from 2005 and 2009 indicated that professional footballers have an increased risk of developing MND.
Research from 2022 by the University of Glasgow including 400 ex- Scotland rugby athletes determined they had an increased risk of developing the disease.
Scientists additionally discovered that rugby players who have experienced repeated head injuries have biological differences that could render them more prone to contracting MND.
The MND Association acknowledges there is a "link" between contact sports and MND.
It added that while the sportspeople studied were more likely to acquire MND, it did not show the sports directly caused the condition.
The organization also emphasises that "reported MND instances in these studies 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".
Multiple prominent sports figures have been diagnosed with the disease in recent years.
These include ex- rugby players, soccer players, and cricketers.
Across the Atlantic, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig succumbed to the condition aged 39.
