What is Motor Neurone Disease and Do Sportspeople More Likely to Be Diagnosed?
Motor neurone disease impacts nerves found in the cerebrum and spine, that instruct your muscles how to function.
This leads them to lose strength and become rigid over time and usually affects how you walk, talk, eat and respire.
It is a relatively rare condition that is most frequent in people above age fifty, but grown-ups of any age can be affected.
An individual's chance in their life of developing MND is one in 300.
Approximately 5,000 people in the UK are living with the condition at any given moment.
Scientists are uncertain what causes MND, but it is probable to be a combination of the genetic material - or biological traits - you get from your mother and father when you are delivered, and additional lifestyle factors.
For up to one in 10 individuals with MND, particular genetic factors play a much larger role.
There is usually a hereditary background of the disease in such instances.
Identifying the First Signs of the Disease?
MND affects everyone differently.
Not everyone has the identical signs, or experiences them in the same order.
The condition can advance at different speeds too.
Among the most frequent signs are:
- loss of muscle strength and cramps
- rigid articulations
- difficulties in your speech
- issues with swallowing, eating and taking fluids
- weakened coughing
Is There a Treatment?
There is no cure, but there is hope stemming from treatments focused on various types of MND.
MND is not one disease - it is really several that culminate in the death of nerve cells.
An innovative medication called tofersen is effective in just 2% of individuals, however it has been shown to slow - and in some cases even undo - some of the manifestations of MND.
It has been referred to as "truly remarkable" and a "real moment of hope" for the whole disease.
Even though the drug has recently been approved in the EU, it is not yet available in the UK.
There is only one drug currently licensed for the treatment of MND in the UK and approved by the NHS.
Riluzole could decelerate the advancement of the disease and prolong life by a few months, but it cannot repair damage.
What is Life Expectancy for MND?
Certain individuals 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 most, the illness progresses quickly and life expectancy is only several years.
Based on the charity MND Association, the condition claims the lives of a third of individuals within a twelve months and more than half within 24 months of diagnosis.
As the neurons stop working, swallowing and respiration become increasingly difficult and numerous individuals need nutritional support or breathing apparatus to help them remain living.
Are Athletes At Greater Risk to Be Diagnosed?
The precise reason has not yet been found, but top-level sportspeople seem disproportionately affected by MND.
A pair of research projects from 2005 and 2009 showed that soccer players have an elevated chance of developing MND.
A 2022 study by the Glasgow University including four hundred ex- Scotland rugby union players concluded they had an increased risk of developing the condition.
Researchers additionally discovered that rugby athletes who have experienced multiple concussions have biological differences that could render them more susceptible to contracting MND.
The MND Association recognizes there is a "correlation" 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 disease.
The organization also stresses that "documented MND cases in this research is still relatively low, and so determining there is a certain elevated chance could be misunderstood if this is simply a grouping due to statistical coincidence".
Several prominent athletes have been identified with the condition in the past few years.
These include ex- rugby union players, footballers, and cricketers.
In the United States, baseball player Lou Gehrig died from the condition at the age of 39.
