Understanding Motor Neurone Disease and Are Athletes More Likely to Be Diagnosed?
Motor neurone disease impacts nerve cells located in the brain and spinal cord, that instruct your muscles how to function.
This leads them to lose strength and stiffen over time and usually affects how you walk, speak, eat and respire.
This is a relatively rare disease that is most common in people above age fifty, but grown-ups of any age can be affected.
An individual's lifetime risk of contracting MND is one in 300.
Approximately 5,000 people in the UK are living with the condition at any one time.
Scientists are uncertain the cause of MND, but it is probable to be a mix of the genes - or inherited characteristics - you get from your mother and father when you are delivered, and other lifestyle factors.
In as many as one in 10 individuals with MND, particular genetic factors are far more significant.
Typically there is a family history of the illness in such instances.
What are the First Signs of the Condition?
MND affects everyone differently.
Not everyone has the same symptoms, or encounters them in the same order.
The disease can advance at varying rates too.
Among the most frequent indicators are:
- loss of muscle strength and cramps
- stiff joints
- problems with your speech
- complications involving swallowing, consuming food and taking fluids
- weakened coughing
Does There Exist a Cure?
There is no definitive treatment, but there is hope stemming from therapies focused on different forms of MND.
MND is not one disease - it is actually several that result in the death of nerve cells.
A new drug called tofersen is effective in only one in 50 patients, however it has been shown to decelerate - and in certain instances even undo - a portion of the symptoms of MND.
It has been described as "absolutely groundbreaking" and a "significant point of optimism" for the whole disease.
Although the medication has recently been approved in the EU, it is not currently accessible 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 prolong life by several months, but it does not reverse harm.
What is Survival Rate for MND?
Certain individuals can live for many years with MND, such as renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, who was diagnosed at the age of 22 and lived to 76.
But for the majority, the illness progresses quickly and survival time is only several years.
According to the charity MND Association, the disease claims the lives of a third of people within a twelve months and more than half within two years of identification.
As the nerve cells cease functioning, swallowing and breathing become more challenging and numerous individuals need nutritional support or respiratory aids to help them remain living.
Are Athletes More Likely to Be Diagnosed?
The exact cause has not yet been found, but elite athletes appear disproportionately affected by MND.
Two studies from 2005 and 2009 indicated that professional footballers have an increased risk of developing MND.
A 2022 study by the University of Glasgow involving 400 ex- Scotland rugby union players determined they had an higher likelihood of developing the disease.
Scientists also found that rugby athletes who have suffered repeated head injuries have physiological variations that could render them more prone to developing MND.
The MND Association recognizes there is a "correlation" 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 sports directly led to the condition.
The organization also stresses that "reported MND cases in these studies is still relatively low, and so concluding there is a certain elevated chance could be misinterpreted if this is merely a grouping due to random chance".
Multiple prominent athletes have been diagnosed with the disease in recent years.
This encompasses ex- rugby internationals, footballers, and cricketers.
In the United States, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig died from the disease aged 39.
