Understanding Motor Neurone Disease and Are Athletes More Likely to Receive a Diagnosis?
Motor neurone disease impacts nerves located in the cerebrum and spinal cord, that instruct your muscle tissue how to function.
This leads them to lose strength and become rigid over time and typically impacts how you walk, talk, consume food and breathe.
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 1 out of 300.
About 5,000 adults in the UK will have the condition at any given moment.
Scientists are uncertain the cause of MND, but it is likely to be a combination of the genetic material - or biological traits - you inherit from your parents when you are delivered, and additional lifestyle factors.
In as many as 10% of individuals with MND, particular genetic factors play a much larger role.
There is usually a family history of the disease in these cases.
Identifying the First Signs of the Condition?
MND affects everyone differently.
Not all individuals has the same symptoms, or encounters them in the identical sequence.
The disease can progress at varying rates too.
Among the most frequent indicators are:
- muscle weakness and cramps
- stiff joints
- difficulties in your speech
- complications involving ingesting, eating and taking fluids
- weakened coughing
Does There Exist a Cure?
There is no definitive treatment, but there is hope coming from treatments focused on different forms of MND.
MND is not one disease - it is really multiple that result in the demise of motor neurones.
A new drug called tofersen is effective in only one in 50 individuals, however it has been demonstrated to slow - and in some cases even undo - a portion of the manifestations of MND.
It has been described as "truly remarkable" and a "real moment of optimism" for the entire condition.
Although the drug has recently been approved in the EU, it is not yet available in the UK.
There is only one drug currently licensed for the treatment of MND in the UK and endorsed by the NHS.
Riluzole could decelerate the advancement of the disease and prolong life by several months, but it cannot repair harm.
Determining Life Expectancy for MND?
Certain individuals can live for many years with MND, including renowned scientist 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 only several years.
Based on the non-profit MND Association, the disease claims the lives of a one-third of people within a twelve months and over 50% within 24 months of diagnosis.
As the nerve cells cease functioning, ingestion and respiration become more challenging and many people need nutritional support or respiratory aids to help them remain living.
Do Sports Professionals At Greater Risk to Receive a Diagnosis?
The exact cause has not been identified, but elite athletes appear disproportionately affected by MND.
A pair of research projects from 2005 and 2009 showed that professional footballers have an elevated chance of developing MND.
A 2022 study by the Glasgow University including four hundred former Scotland rugby union players concluded they had an increased risk of developing the disease.
Researchers also found that rugby players who have suffered multiple concussions have biological differences that could render them more susceptible to contracting MND.
The MND Association recognizes there is a "correlation" between collision sports and MND.
It added that while the athletes researched were more likely to develop MND, it did not prove the sports directly led to the disease.
The organization also stresses that "documented MND cases in this research is still relatively low, and so determining there is a certain elevated chance could be misinterpreted if this is simply a grouping due to statistical coincidence".
Multiple prominent athletes have been diagnosed with the disease in the past few years.
These include ex- rugby players, soccer players, and cricket athletes.
In the United States, baseball player Lou Gehrig died from the disease aged 39.
