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Motor neurone disease affects nerve cells located in the brain and spinal cord, that instruct your muscles what to do.

This leads them to lose strength and stiffen over time and typically impacts how you walk, talk, consume food 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.

A person's lifetime risk of contracting MND is 1 out of 300.

About five thousand adults in the UK are living with the disease at any one time.

Scientists are uncertain the cause of MND, but it is likely to be a mix of the genes - or inherited characteristics - you get from your parents when you are born, and additional environmental influences.

In as many as 10% of individuals with MND, specific genes play a much larger role.

Typically there is a hereditary background of the illness in such instances.

Identifying the First Signs of the Disease?

MND impacts each person uniquely.

Not everyone has the same symptoms, or encounters them in the identical sequence.

The disease can advance at different speeds too.

Among the most common indicators are:

• muscle weakness and cramps
• rigid articulations
• problems with your speech
• issues with swallowing, consuming food and taking fluids
• reduced cough reflex

Does There Exist a Treatment?

There is no cure, but there is hope stemming from therapies focused on various types of MND.

MND is not a single illness - it is really multiple that culminate in the death of nerve cells.

An innovative medication called 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 symptoms of MND.

It has been referred to as "absolutely groundbreaking" and a "significant point of optimism" for the entire condition.

Even though the medication has recently received approval in the European Union, 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 disease and prolong life by a few months, but it does not reverse harm.

Determining Life Expectancy for MND?

Certain individuals can survive for decades with MND, such as renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, who was diagnosed at the twenty-two years old and survived until 76.

But for the majority, the illness advances rapidly and survival time is just a few years.

According to the non-profit MND Association, the disease claims the lives of a third of people within a twelve months and over 50% within two years of identification.

As the neurons cease functioning, ingestion and breathing become more challenging and numerous individuals need nutritional support or respiratory aids to help them stay alive.

Do Sports Professionals More Likely to Be Diagnosed?

The exact cause has not yet been found, but top-level sportspeople seem disproportionately affected by MND.

Two studies from 2005 and 2009 showed that professional footballers have an elevated chance of contracting MND.

A 2022 study by the University of Glasgow involving four hundred former Scotland rugby athletes determined they had an higher likelihood of acquiring the condition.

Researchers also found that rugby players who have suffered repeated head injuries have biological differences that may make them more prone to contracting MND.

The MND Association recognizes there is a "link" between contact sports and MND.

It added that while the athletes researched were more likely to acquire MND, it did not prove the athletic activities directly caused the disease.

The organization also emphasises that "documented MND instances in these studies is still relatively low, and so determining there is a certain elevated chance could be misunderstood if this is merely a cluster due to random chance".

Several high-profile athletes have been diagnosed with the disease in recent years.

These include former rugby players, soccer players, and cricketers.

In the United States, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig died from the condition aged 39.