Understanding Motor Neurone Disease and Do Sportspeople More Likely to Be Diagnosed?
Motor neurone disease affects nerve cells located in the cerebrum and spine, that instruct your muscle tissue how to function.
This leads them to weaken and become rigid gradually and usually affects how you walk, speak, eat and breathe.
This is a relatively rare disease that is most common in individuals above age fifty, but adults of any age can be affected.
An individual's chance in their life of developing MND is one in 300.
About five thousand people in the UK will have the disease at any given moment.
Scientists are not sure the cause of MND, but it is likely to be a mix 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 10% of people with MND, particular genetic factors play a much larger role.
Typically there is a family history of the disease in these cases.
What are the First Signs of the Condition?
MND impacts each person uniquely.
Not all individuals has the identical signs, or encounters them in the identical sequence.
The condition can progress at varying rates too.
Among the most common signs are:
- muscle weakness and muscle spasms
- rigid articulations
- problems with your speech
- complications involving swallowing, eating and drinking
- reduced cough reflex
Is There a Treatment?
No definitive treatment, but there is hope coming from treatments focused on different forms of MND.
MND is not a single illness - it is really several that result in the death of motor neurones.
A new drug known as tofersen is effective in only one in 50 patients, however it has been demonstrated to slow - and in some cases even undo - some of the symptoms of MND.
It has been referred to as "truly remarkable" and a "real moment of optimism" for the whole disease.
Even though the drug has recently been approved in the European Union, it is not yet available in the UK.
There is only one drug presently approved for the management of MND in the UK and approved by the NHS.
Riluzole could decelerate the advancement of the disease and increase survival by several months, but it cannot repair damage.
Determining Survival Rate for MND?
Certain individuals can survive for decades with MND, including renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, who was diagnosed at the twenty-two years old and survived until 76.
But for the majority, the disease 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 nerve cells cease functioning, ingestion and respiration become increasingly difficult and many people need feeding tubes or respiratory aids to help them remain living.
Are Athletes More Likely to Receive a Diagnosis?
The precise reason has not yet been found, but top-level sportspeople seem disproportionately affected by MND.
Two studies from 2005 and 2009 indicated that professional footballers have an increased risk of contracting MND.
Research from 2022 by the Glasgow University involving four hundred ex- Scotland rugby union players concluded they had an increased risk of acquiring the condition.
Scientists additionally discovered that rugby athletes who have suffered multiple concussions have physiological variations that may make them more prone to developing MND.
The MND Association recognizes there is a "link" between collision sports and MND.
It noted that while the athletes studied were had a greater chance to acquire MND, it did not show the athletic activities directly led to the condition.
The organization also emphasises that "documented MND instances in this research is remains quite small, and so concluding there is a certain elevated chance could be misunderstood if this is merely a grouping due to statistical coincidence".
Multiple prominent athletes have been diagnosed with the disease in the past few years.
These include former rugby union players, footballers, and cricketers.
In the United States, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig died from the condition aged 39.
