What is Motor Neurone Disease and Are Athletes At Higher Risk to Receive a Diagnosis?
MND affects nerve cells found in the cerebrum and spinal cord, which tell your muscle tissue how to function.
This leads them to lose strength and stiffen over time and typically impacts how you walk, speak, consume food and respire.
It is a relatively rare disease that is most frequent in individuals above age fifty, but adults of any age can be impacted.
An individual's lifetime risk of contracting MND is one in 300.
About five thousand people in the UK are living with the disease at any one time.
Scientists are uncertain what causes MND, but it is likely to be a combination of the genes - or biological traits - you get from your mother and father when you are born, and additional lifestyle factors.
For up to one in 10 individuals with MND, particular genetic factors are far more significant.
Typically there is a hereditary background of the disease in these cases.
Identifying the Early Symptoms of the Condition?
MND affects everyone differently.
Not everyone has the identical signs, or encounters them in the identical sequence.
The condition can advance at different speeds too.
Some of the most frequent indicators are:
- muscle weakness and muscle spasms
- rigid articulations
- difficulties in how you speak
- complications involving swallowing, consuming food and drinking
- reduced cough reflex
Does There Exist a Cure?
No cure, but there is hope stemming from treatments focused on various types of MND.
MND is not a single illness - it is really multiple that culminate in the death of motor neurones.
A new drug called tofersen works in only one in 50 individuals, however it has been demonstrated to decelerate - and in some cases even reverse - some of the symptoms of MND.
It has been referred to as "truly remarkable" and a "real moment of hope" for the entire condition.
Although the drug has recently received approval in the EU, it is not yet available in the UK.
Just one drug 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 a few months, but it does not reverse damage.
Determining Life Expectancy for MND?
Certain individuals can live for many years with MND, including renowned scientist 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 only several years.
According to the charity MND Association, the disease kills a one-third of individuals within a twelve months and more than half within two years of diagnosis.
As the nerve cells cease functioning, ingestion and breathing become increasingly difficult and numerous individuals need feeding tubes or respiratory aids to help them remain living.
Do Sports Professionals More Likely to Receive a Diagnosis?
The exact cause has not been identified, but elite athletes seem disproportionately affected by MND.
A pair of research projects from 2005 and 2009 indicated that soccer players have an increased risk of contracting MND.
A 2022 study by the University of Glasgow including four hundred former Scotland rugby athletes determined they had an higher likelihood of acquiring the condition.
Researchers also found that rugby athletes who have experienced repeated head injuries have physiological variations that could render them more susceptible to developing MND.
The MND Association recognizes there is a "link" between contact sports and MND.
It added that while the athletes studied were had a greater chance to develop MND, it did not show the athletic activities directly led to the condition.
The organization also emphasises that "reported MND cases in this research is remains quite small, and so concluding there is a certain elevated chance could be misinterpreted if this is simply a grouping due to random chance".
Several prominent sports figures have been identified with the condition in recent years.
This encompasses former rugby union internationals, footballers, and cricketers.
Across the Atlantic, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig succumbed to the disease aged 39.
