What is MND and Do Sportspeople More Likely to Receive a Diagnosis?
Motor neurone disease affects nerves located in the brain and spine, which tell your muscles what to do.
This leads them to weaken and stiffen over time and typically impacts your walking, talk, eat and respire.
It is a relatively rare condition that is most common in people over 50, but adults of any age can be impacted.
An individual's chance in their life of developing MND is one in 300.
About five thousand people in the UK are living with the disease at any given moment.
Scientists are not sure what causes MND, but it is probable to be a mix of the genes - or inherited characteristics - you inherit from your parents when you are delivered, and other lifestyle factors.
In as many as one in 10 people with MND, specific genes are far more significant.
Typically there is a hereditary background of the illness in such instances.
Identifying the First Signs of the Condition?
MND affects everyone differently.
Not all individuals has the identical signs, or encounters them in the same order.
The disease can advance at different speeds too.
Among the most common indicators are:
- loss of muscle strength and cramps
- stiff joints
- difficulties in your speech
- issues with ingesting, eating and taking fluids
- reduced cough reflex
Does There Exist a Treatment?
There is no cure, but there is optimism stemming from therapies targeted at different forms of MND.
MND is not a single illness - it is really multiple that culminate in the death of nerve cells.
A new drug known as tofersen is effective in just 2% of individuals, however it has been shown to decelerate - and in some cases even reverse - some of the symptoms of MND.
It has been described as "absolutely groundbreaking" and a "significant point of optimism" for the whole disease.
Although the drug has recently received approval in the European Union, it is not currently accessible in the UK.
There is only one drug currently licensed for the management of MND in the UK and approved by the NHS.
Riluzole could decelerate the advancement of the condition and increase survival by several months, but it cannot repair damage.
What is Life Expectancy for MND?
Some people can survive for decades with MND, such as theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who was diagnosed at the age of 22 and survived until 76.
But for the majority, the disease progresses quickly and survival time is just a few years.
Based on the non-profit MND Association, the disease claims the lives of a one-third of people within a twelve months and over 50% within 24 months of identification.
As the neurons stop working, ingestion and breathing become increasingly difficult and numerous individuals need nutritional support or breathing apparatus to help them remain living.
Do Sports Professionals More Likely to Be Diagnosed?
The precise reason has not been identified, but top-level sportspeople appear overrepresented by MND.
A pair of research projects from 2005 and 2009 showed that professional footballers have an elevated chance of developing MND.
A 2022 study by the Glasgow University including four hundred former Scotland rugby athletes determined they had an increased risk of developing the condition.
Researchers additionally discovered 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 "correlation" between collision sports and MND.
It noted that while the sportspeople researched were more likely to develop MND, it did not prove the athletic activities directly led to the condition.
The charity also emphasises that "reported MND cases in this research is remains quite small, and so concluding there is a definite increased risk could be misinterpreted if this is simply a grouping due to statistical coincidence".
Multiple high-profile sports figures have been identified with the disease in the past few years.
These include former rugby players, footballers, and cricketers.
In the United States, baseball player Lou Gehrig succumbed to the disease aged 39.
