Understanding Motor Neurone Disease and Are Athletes More Likely to Be Diagnosed?
Motor neurone disease affects nerve cells found in the cerebrum and spinal cord, which tell your muscle tissue what to do.
This leads them to weaken and become rigid over time and usually affects your walking, speak, eat and respire.
This is a relatively rare condition that is most common in individuals above age fifty, but grown-ups of any age can be impacted.
An individual's chance in their life of developing MND is one in 300.
Approximately five thousand people in the UK will have the disease at any one time.
Researchers are not sure the cause of MND, but it is probable to be a mix of the genetic material - or biological traits - you inherit from your mother and father when you are delivered, and other environmental influences.
For up to one in 10 people with MND, particular genetic factors are far more significant.
Typically there is a family history of the disease in these cases.
What are the First Signs of the Condition?
MND affects everyone differently.
Not all individuals has the identical signs, or encounters them in the same order.
The condition can advance at varying rates too.
Some of the most frequent indicators are:
- muscle weakness and cramps
- stiff joints
- problems with how you speak
- issues with ingesting, consuming food and drinking
- weakened coughing
Does There Exist a Cure?
There is no cure, but there is optimism coming from therapies targeted at different forms of MND.
MND is not a single illness - it is really multiple that result in the death of nerve cells.
An innovative medication known as tofersen works in just 2% of individuals, however it has been shown to slow - and in certain instances even undo - some of the manifestations of MND.
It has been referred to as "truly remarkable" and a "real moment of hope" for the entire condition.
Even though the medication has recently been approved in the European Union, it is not currently accessible in the UK.
There is only one pharmaceutical currently licensed for the treatment of MND in the UK and approved by the NHS.
Riluzole could decelerate the progression of the condition and increase survival by a few months, but it does not reverse harm.
Determining Life Expectancy for MND?
Certain individuals can survive for decades with MND, such as theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who was diagnosed at the age of 22 and lived to 76.
But for the majority, the illness advances rapidly and survival time is only several years.
According to the non-profit MND Association, the condition kills a one-third of individuals within a year and over 50% within two years of diagnosis.
As the neurons stop working, swallowing and breathing become increasingly difficult 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 yet been found, but elite athletes appear overrepresented by MND.
A pair of research projects from 2005 and 2009 indicated that soccer players have an elevated chance of developing MND.
Research from 2022 by the Glasgow University including four hundred ex- Scotland rugby union players concluded they had an higher likelihood of developing the disease.
Researchers additionally discovered that rugby players who have experienced repeated head injuries have biological differences that may make them more susceptible to developing MND.
The MND Association acknowledges there is a "link" between collision sports and MND.
It noted that while the sportspeople studied were had a greater chance to develop MND, it did not prove the athletic activities directly led to the disease.
The charity also stresses that "reported MND cases in this research is remains quite small, and so determining there is a certain elevated chance could be misunderstood if this is merely a cluster due to statistical coincidence".
Several high-profile sports figures have been diagnosed with the disease in the past few years.
This encompasses ex- rugby union internationals, footballers, and cricketers.
Across the Atlantic, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig died from the disease aged 39.
