What is MND and Do Sportspeople More Likely to Receive a Diagnosis?
Motor neurone disease affects nerves found in the brain and spine, which tell your muscle tissue how to function.
This leads them to weaken and become rigid gradually and typically impacts your walking, talk, eat and breathe.
It is a quite uncommon condition that is most frequent in individuals above age fifty, but adults of all ages can be impacted.
A person's lifetime risk of developing MND is one in 300.
Approximately five thousand people in the UK will have the disease at any one time.
Scientists are not sure what causes MND, but it is likely to be a combination of the genetic material - or inherited characteristics - you inherit from your parents when you are delivered, and other lifestyle factors.
For up to one in 10 individuals with MND, particular genetic factors are far more significant.
There is usually a hereditary background of the illness in such instances.
Identifying the Early Symptoms of the Condition?
MND impacts each person uniquely.
Not all individuals has the same symptoms, or experiences them in the identical sequence.
The disease can advance at varying rates too.
Among the most common signs are:
- muscle weakness and muscle spasms
- stiff joints
- difficulties in how you speak
- issues with swallowing, eating and taking fluids
- weakened coughing
Does There Exist a Treatment?
There is no cure, but there is hope coming from treatments focused on various types of MND.
MND is not a single illness - it is actually several that culminate in the demise of motor neurones.
A new drug known as tofersen works in just 2% of patients, however it has been shown to decelerate - and in certain instances even reverse - some of the manifestations of MND.
It has been described as "truly remarkable" and a "real moment of optimism" for the entire condition.
Although the drug has recently received approval in the EU, it is not yet available in the UK.
Just one pharmaceutical currently licensed for the management of MND in the UK and endorsed by the NHS.
Riluzole could decelerate the progression of the condition and increase survival by several months, but it cannot repair damage.
What is Survival Rate for MND?
Certain individuals can live for many years with MND, such as renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, who was identified at the age of 22 and survived until 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 one-third of people within a year and over 50% within two years of diagnosis.
As the neurons cease functioning, swallowing and breathing become increasingly difficult and many people need feeding tubes or breathing apparatus to help them stay alive.
Do Sports Professionals At Greater Risk to Be Diagnosed?
The exact cause has not yet been found, but top-level sportspeople seem disproportionately affected by MND.
Two studies from 2005 and 2009 showed that soccer players have an increased risk of developing MND.
A 2022 study by the University of Glasgow including 400 former Scotland rugby union players concluded they had an higher likelihood of acquiring the condition.
Scientists also found that rugby players who have experienced repeated head injuries have biological differences that could render them more prone to developing MND.
The MND Association recognizes there is a "link" between contact sports and MND.
It noted that while the athletes researched were had a greater chance to acquire MND, it did not prove the sports directly led to the disease.
The organization also emphasises that "reported MND instances in these studies is still relatively low, and so concluding there is a definite increased risk could be misinterpreted if this is simply a grouping due to random chance".
Several high-profile sports figures have been diagnosed with the condition in the past few years.
These include former rugby union internationals, soccer players, and cricket athletes.
In the United States, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig died from the disease at the age of 39.
