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Motor neurone disease impacts nerve cells found in the cerebrum and spine, which tell your muscle tissue how to function.

This causes them to lose strength and become rigid over time and usually affects your walking, speak, consume food and breathe.

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

An individual's chance in their life of contracting MND is 1 out of 300.

Approximately 5,000 people in the UK will have the condition at any given moment.

Scientists are not sure the cause of MND, but it is probable to be a mix of the genes - or inherited characteristics - you get from your parents when you are born, and other environmental influences.

In as many as 10% of individuals with MND, specific genes play a much larger role.

Typically there is a family history of the disease in such instances.

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 advance at different speeds too.

Some of the most common indicators are:

• loss of muscle strength and cramps
• rigid articulations
• difficulties in your speech
• issues with ingesting, eating and drinking
• weakened coughing

Is There a Cure?

No cure, but there is hope stemming from therapies focused on different forms of MND.

MND is not a single illness - it is really several that result in the death of motor neurones.

An innovative medication known as tofersen works in just 2% of 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 entire condition.

Although the medication has recently received approval 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 endorsed by the NHS.

Riluzole may slow down the advancement of the disease and prolong life by several months, but it does not reverse harm.

What is Survival Rate 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 survival time is only several years.

According to the charity MND Association, the disease claims the lives of a third of people within a twelve months and more than half within 24 months of identification.

As the nerve cells cease functioning, swallowing and respiration become more challenging and many people need feeding tubes or breathing apparatus to help them stay alive.

Are Athletes More Likely 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 soccer players have an elevated chance of contracting MND.

A 2022 study by the University of Glasgow including four hundred ex- Scotland rugby union players determined they had an increased risk of developing the disease.

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

The MND Association acknowledges 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 caused the disease.

The organization also stresses that "reported MND cases 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 high-profile athletes have been diagnosed with the disease in recent years.

This encompasses former rugby union internationals, footballers, and cricket athletes.

In the United States, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig succumbed to the disease at the age of 39.