Understanding MND and Are Athletes At Higher Risk to Be Diagnosed?
Motor neurone disease affects nerves found in the brain and spinal cord, that instruct your muscle tissue what to do.
This leads them to lose strength and become rigid over time and usually affects your walking, talk, consume food and breathe.
This is a quite uncommon disease that is most common in individuals over 50, but grown-ups of any age can be impacted.
A person's chance in their life of contracting MND is 1 out of 300.
About five thousand adults in the UK will have 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 get from your parents when you are born, and other environmental influences.
In as many as 10% of people with MND, particular genetic factors play a much larger role.
Typically there is a hereditary background of the disease in such instances.
What are the First Signs of the Disease?
MND impacts each person uniquely.
Not all individuals has the same symptoms, or encounters them in the same order.
The disease can advance at different speeds too.
Some of the most common signs are:
- muscle weakness and cramps
- rigid articulations
- difficulties in how you speak
- issues with swallowing, eating and taking fluids
- reduced cough reflex
Does There Exist a Treatment?
There is no definitive treatment, but there is hope stemming from therapies targeted at various types of MND.
MND is not a single illness - it is actually several that culminate in the death of motor neurones.
A new drug called tofersen is effective in just 2% of individuals, however it has been demonstrated to decelerate - and in certain instances even undo - some of the manifestations of MND.
It has been referred to as "absolutely groundbreaking" and a "significant point of optimism" for the whole disease.
Although the drug has recently received approval in the EU, it is not yet available in the UK.
There is only one pharmaceutical 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 several months, but it cannot repair harm.
Determining Survival Rate for MND?
Certain individuals can survive for decades with MND, such as renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, who was diagnosed at the twenty-two years old and survived until 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 third of individuals within a year and more than half within 24 months of diagnosis.
As the neurons stop working, swallowing and respiration become more challenging and many people need nutritional support or respiratory aids to help them stay alive.
Do Sports Professionals At Greater Risk to Be Diagnosed?
The precise reason has not been identified, but top-level sportspeople appear disproportionately affected by MND.
A pair of research projects from 2005 and 2009 showed that soccer players have an elevated chance of contracting MND.
A 2022 study by the University of Glasgow involving 400 former Scotland rugby union players concluded they had an increased risk of acquiring the condition.
Scientists also found that rugby athletes who have suffered repeated head injuries have biological differences that may make them more prone to contracting MND.
The MND Association recognizes there is a "link" between contact sports and MND.
It added that while the athletes studied were had a greater chance to develop MND, it did not show the athletic activities directly led to the condition.
The organization also stresses that "reported MND instances in these studies is still relatively low, and so concluding there is a definite increased risk could be misinterpreted if this is simply a grouping due to statistical coincidence".
Multiple prominent sports figures have been identified with the condition in the past few years.
These include ex- rugby union players, footballers, and cricketers.
In the United States, baseball player Lou Gehrig died from the disease aged 39.
