What is MND and Do Sportspeople More Likely to Receive a Diagnosis?

MND impacts nerves located in the cerebrum and spinal cord, that instruct your muscle tissue what to do.

This leads them to weaken and become rigid over time and typically impacts your walking, talk, eat and breathe.

It is a quite uncommon disease that is most common in people over 50, but adults of any age can be affected.

A person's chance in their life of contracting MND is 1 out of 300.

Approximately 5,000 adults in the UK are living with the condition at any one time.

Scientists are not sure the cause of MND, but it is likely to be a mix of the genetic material - or inherited characteristics - you inherit from your mother and father when you are born, and other lifestyle factors.

For up to one in 10 people with MND, specific genes play a much larger role.

There is usually a family history of the illness in these cases.

What are the First Signs of the Condition?

MND impacts each person uniquely.

Not everyone has the identical signs, or experiences them in the identical sequence.

The disease can advance at different speeds too.

Among the most frequent signs are:

• muscle weakness and muscle spasms
• rigid articulations
• problems with your speech
• complications involving ingesting, eating and drinking
• reduced cough reflex

Does There Exist a Treatment?

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

MND is not a single illness - it is really multiple that culminate in the death of nerve cells.

An innovative medication known as tofersen works in just 2% of patients, however it has been shown to slow - and in certain instances even undo - some of the symptoms of MND.

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

Even though the drug has recently been approved in the European Union, it is not yet available in the UK.

Just one pharmaceutical presently approved for the treatment of MND in the UK and endorsed by the NHS.

Riluzole may slow down the progression of the disease and prolong life by several months, but it cannot repair harm.

Determining Survival Rate for MND?

Certain individuals can live for many years with MND, including renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, who was diagnosed at the age of 22 and lived to 76.

But for most, the illness advances rapidly and life expectancy is just a few years.

Based on the non-profit MND Association, the disease kills a one-third of people within a twelve months and over 50% within 24 months of identification.

As the nerve cells stop working, swallowing and respiration become more challenging and many people need nutritional support or respiratory aids to help them remain living.

Are Athletes More Likely to Receive a Diagnosis?

The exact cause has not yet been found, but top-level sportspeople seem overrepresented by MND.

A pair of research projects from 2005 and 2009 indicated that soccer players have an elevated chance of contracting MND.

Research from 2022 by the University of Glasgow involving 400 ex- Scotland rugby union players determined they had an increased risk of developing the disease.

Researchers additionally discovered that rugby athletes who have experienced multiple concussions have physiological variations that may make them more susceptible to developing MND.

The MND Association acknowledges there is a "link" between contact sports and MND.

It added that while the sportspeople researched were more likely to acquire MND, it did not prove the sports directly led to the disease.

The organization also emphasises that "reported MND instances in these studies is still relatively low, and so concluding there is a certain elevated chance could be misinterpreted if this is simply a cluster due to statistical coincidence".

Several prominent sports figures have been diagnosed with the condition in recent years.

These include ex- rugby union internationals, footballers, and cricketers.

Across the Atlantic, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig succumbed to the disease aged 39.