What is Motor Neurone Disease and Do Sportspeople More Likely to Receive a Diagnosis?

Motor neurone disease impacts nerves located in the cerebrum and spine, which tell your muscle tissue what to do.

This leads them to lose strength and become rigid over time and usually affects how you walk, talk, eat and breathe.

This is a quite uncommon condition that is most common in people over 50, but grown-ups of all ages can be impacted.

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

Approximately 5,000 adults in the UK are living with the condition at any given moment.

Researchers are not sure what causes MND, but it is likely to be a mix of the genes - or inherited characteristics - you inherit from your mother and father when you are born, and other lifestyle factors.

For up to one in 10 individuals with MND, particular genetic factors are far more significant.

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

What are the Early Symptoms of the Disease?

MND impacts each person uniquely.

Not everyone has the identical signs, or experiences them in the same order.

The disease can advance at varying rates too.

Among the most frequent indicators are:

• muscle weakness and muscle spasms
• stiff joints
• problems with how you speak
• complications involving ingesting, consuming food and drinking
• weakened coughing

Is There a Treatment?

No cure, but there is optimism stemming from treatments focused on various types of MND.

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

A new drug known as tofersen is effective in just 2% of patients, however it has been shown to slow - and in some cases even undo - a portion of the manifestations of MND.

It has been described as "absolutely groundbreaking" and a "real moment of hope" for the entire condition.

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

Just one drug currently licensed for the management 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 harm.

Determining Life Expectancy for MND?

Some people can survive for decades with MND, such as theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who was identified at the twenty-two years old and lived to 76.

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

Based on the charity MND Association, the disease kills a one-third of individuals within a twelve months and over 50% within 24 months of identification.

As the nerve cells stop working, swallowing and respiration become more challenging and numerous individuals need feeding tubes or respiratory aids to help them stay alive.

Are Athletes At Greater Risk to Be Diagnosed?

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

Two studies from 2005 and 2009 indicated that professional footballers have an increased risk of contracting MND.

A 2022 study by the Glasgow University including four hundred former Scotland rugby athletes concluded they had an higher likelihood of acquiring the disease.

Scientists additionally discovered that rugby athletes who have suffered multiple concussions have biological differences that could render them more prone to contracting MND.

The MND Association acknowledges there is a "correlation" between collision sports and MND.

It added that while the sportspeople researched were more likely to acquire MND, it did not prove the athletic activities directly caused the condition.

The charity also stresses that "documented MND cases in these studies is still relatively low, and so determining there is a certain elevated chance could be misinterpreted if this is simply a cluster due to random chance".

Several prominent sports figures have been diagnosed with the condition in recent years.

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

In the United States, baseball player Lou Gehrig succumbed to the disease at the age of 39.