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MND impacts nerves located in the brain and spinal cord, that instruct your muscles what to do.

This causes them to weaken and stiffen gradually and typically impacts how you walk, speak, consume food and respire.

This is a quite uncommon condition that is most frequent in people above age fifty, but grown-ups of any age can be affected.

An individual's lifetime risk of contracting MND is one in 300.

About five thousand people in the UK are living with the condition at any one time.

Scientists are uncertain the cause of MND, but it is probable to be a mix of the genes - or inherited characteristics - you inherit from your parents when you are born, and other lifestyle factors.

In as many as one in 10 people with MND, specific genes play a much larger role.

There is usually a family history of the disease in these cases.

Identifying the Early Symptoms of the Disease?

MND affects everyone differently.

Not everyone has the identical signs, or encounters them in the identical sequence.

The disease can advance at different speeds too.

Among the most frequent indicators are:

• loss of muscle strength and muscle spasms
• rigid articulations
• difficulties in how you speak
• issues with ingesting, consuming food and taking fluids
• reduced cough reflex

Is There a Treatment?

There is no definitive treatment, but there is hope coming from therapies focused on different forms of MND.

MND is not a single illness - it is actually multiple that culminate in the demise of nerve cells.

A new drug known as tofersen works in only one in 50 individuals, however it has been shown to decelerate - and in certain instances even reverse - a portion of the manifestations of MND.

It has been described as "truly remarkable" and a "significant point of hope" for the whole disease.

Although the medication has recently been approved in the EU, it is not currently accessible in the UK.

Just one drug currently licensed for the treatment of MND in the UK and approved by the NHS.

Riluzole may slow down the progression of the disease and increase survival by a few months, but it cannot repair damage.

What is Life Expectancy for MND?

Some people can survive for decades with MND, including renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, who was diagnosed at the age of 22 and lived to 76.

But for most, the disease progresses quickly and survival time is just a few years.

According to the charity MND Association, the condition kills a one-third of people within a year and more than half within 24 months of diagnosis.

As the neurons stop working, ingestion and respiration become more challenging and numerous individuals need nutritional support or breathing apparatus to help them remain living.

Are Athletes At Greater Risk to Be Diagnosed?

The exact cause has not yet been found, but top-level sportspeople appear overrepresented by MND.

A pair of research projects from 2005 and 2009 showed that soccer players have an increased risk of developing MND.

A 2022 study by the University of Glasgow including four hundred ex- Scotland rugby athletes concluded they had an higher likelihood of developing the condition.

Researchers also found that rugby players who have suffered repeated head injuries have physiological variations that could render them more susceptible to developing MND.

The MND Association recognizes there is a "correlation" between contact sports and MND.

It added that while the sportspeople researched were had a greater chance to develop MND, it did not prove the athletic activities directly led to the disease.

The charity also emphasises that "reported MND cases in this research is still relatively low, and so determining there is a definite increased risk could be misinterpreted if this is merely a grouping due to random chance".

Several high-profile sports figures have been identified with the disease in the past few years.

This encompasses former rugby players, soccer players, and cricket athletes.

Across the Atlantic, baseball player Lou Gehrig died from the disease aged 39.