đź”— Share this article Understanding Motor Neurone Disease and Do Sportspeople More Likely to Be Diagnosed? Motor neurone disease impacts nerves located in the cerebrum and spine, that instruct your muscle tissue how to function. This leads them to lose strength and stiffen over time and typically impacts how you walk, talk, eat and respire. It is a relatively rare disease that is most frequent in individuals over 50, but grown-ups of all ages can be impacted. A person's lifetime risk of developing MND is one in 300. Approximately 5,000 adults in the UK are living with the condition at any given moment. Researchers are uncertain the cause of MND, but it is likely to be a combination of the genetic material - or inherited characteristics - you inherit from your parents when you are born, and other lifestyle factors. For up to one in 10 people with MND, specific genes play a much larger role. There is usually a family history of the illness in these cases. What are the First Signs of the Condition? MND impacts each person uniquely. Not everyone has the same symptoms, or encounters them in the same order. The disease can progress at varying rates too. Some of the most frequent signs are: muscle weakness and muscle spasms stiff joints difficulties in your speech complications involving swallowing, eating and taking fluids weakened coughing Does There Exist a Treatment? There is no cure, but there is hope stemming from treatments targeted at different forms of MND. MND is not one disease - it is really several that result in the death of nerve cells. An innovative medication called tofersen is effective in just 2% of individuals, however it has been demonstrated to slow - and in some cases even reverse - some of the symptoms of MND. It has been referred to as "absolutely groundbreaking" and a "significant point of hope" for the whole disease. Although the drug has recently received approval in the EU, it is not currently accessible in the UK. There is only one pharmaceutical currently licensed for the treatment of MND in the UK and endorsed by the NHS. Riluzole may slow down the progression of the condition and increase survival by a few months, but it does not reverse damage. Determining Life Expectancy for MND? Certain individuals can survive for decades with MND, such as theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who was identified at the age of 22 and lived to 76. But for the majority, the illness progresses quickly and life expectancy is just a few years. Based on the charity MND Association, the condition claims the lives of a one-third of people within a year and over 50% within two years of diagnosis. As the nerve cells cease functioning, swallowing and respiration become more challenging and many people need nutritional support or respiratory aids to help them remain living. Are Athletes At Greater Risk to Be Diagnosed? The precise reason has not been identified, but elite athletes appear disproportionately affected by MND. A pair of research projects from 2005 and 2009 showed that professional footballers have an increased risk of developing MND. Research from 2022 by the University of Glasgow including 400 former Scotland rugby union players concluded they had an increased risk of developing the condition. Researchers also found that rugby players who have suffered multiple concussions have physiological variations that may make them more susceptible to contracting MND. The MND Association acknowledges there is a "correlation" between collision sports and MND. It added that while the athletes studied were more likely to acquire MND, it did not show the sports directly led to the condition. The organization also emphasises that "reported MND instances in these studies is still relatively low, and so concluding there is a certain elevated chance could be misunderstood if this is simply a cluster due to statistical coincidence". Several prominent sports figures have been identified with the condition in the past few years. These include ex- rugby internationals, soccer players, and cricketers. In the United States, baseball player Lou Gehrig died from the condition at the age of 39.