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Motor neurone disease affects nerve cells found in the brain and spine, that instruct your muscle tissue how to function.

This leads them to lose strength and stiffen over time and usually affects your walking, talk, consume food and respire.

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

A person's lifetime risk of developing MND is one in 300.

About 5,000 adults in the UK will have the disease at any one time.

Researchers are uncertain the cause of MND, but it is probable to be a combination of the genetic material - or biological traits - you get from your mother and father when you are born, and additional environmental influences.

In as many as 10% of people with MND, particular genetic factors are far more significant.

There is usually a hereditary background of the illness in these cases.

What are the Early Symptoms of the Condition?

MND impacts each person uniquely.

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

The condition can progress at different speeds too.

Some of the most common signs are:

• muscle weakness and muscle spasms
• rigid articulations
• difficulties in your speech
• issues with ingesting, consuming food and taking fluids
• weakened coughing

Does There Exist a Cure?

There is no definitive treatment, but there is optimism coming from therapies targeted at various types of MND.

MND is not one disease - it is really multiple that result in the demise of nerve cells.

An innovative medication known as tofersen is effective in only one in 50 patients, however it has been shown to slow - and in some cases even reverse - a portion of the symptoms of MND.

It has been referred to as "truly remarkable" and a "significant point of hope" for the entire condition.

Even though the medication has recently received approval in the EU, it is not currently accessible in the UK.

There is only one drug currently licensed for the management of MND in the UK and endorsed by the NHS.

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

Determining Survival Rate for MND?

Certain individuals can live for many years with MND, including theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who was identified at the twenty-two years old and lived to 76.

But for most, the disease progresses quickly and survival time is only several years.

Based on the non-profit MND Association, the disease claims the lives of a third of individuals within a year and more than half within 24 months of identification.

As the neurons stop working, swallowing and breathing become increasingly difficult and many people need feeding tubes or respiratory aids to help them stay alive.

Are Athletes More Likely to Receive a Diagnosis?

The exact cause has not been identified, but elite athletes seem overrepresented by MND.

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

Research from 2022 by the University of Glasgow involving 400 former Scotland rugby athletes concluded they had an higher likelihood of acquiring the condition.

Scientists additionally discovered that rugby players who have experienced multiple concussions have biological differences that may make them more prone to developing MND.

The MND Association recognizes there is a "link" between collision sports and MND.

It added that while the athletes researched were had a greater chance to develop MND, it did not show the athletic activities directly caused the condition.

The organization also stresses that "reported MND cases in this research is remains quite small, and so determining there is a definite increased risk could be misinterpreted if this is simply a cluster due to random chance".

Several high-profile athletes have been diagnosed with the condition in the past few years.

This encompasses former rugby internationals, soccer players, and cricketers.

In the United States, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig died from the disease aged 39.