🔗 Share this article What is MND and Do Sportspeople More Likely to Receive a Diagnosis? MND affects nerve cells located in the brain and spinal cord, that instruct your muscles what to do. This causes them to weaken and stiffen gradually and usually affects how you walk, speak, eat and respire. It is a quite uncommon disease that is most frequent in individuals over 50, but adults of all ages can be affected. 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 one time. Researchers are not sure what causes MND, but it is probable to be a mix of the genetic material - or inherited characteristics - you inherit from your parents when you are delivered, and other environmental influences. For up to one in 10 individuals with MND, particular genetic factors play a much larger role. Typically there is a family history of the illness in such instances. What are the First Signs of the Condition? MND impacts each person uniquely. Not all individuals has the identical signs, or experiences them in the identical sequence. The disease can advance at different speeds too. Among the most frequent indicators are: loss of muscle strength and muscle spasms rigid articulations problems with how you speak issues with ingesting, eating and taking fluids reduced cough reflex Is There 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 actually multiple that culminate in the death of motor neurones. An innovative medication called tofersen works in only one in 50 patients, however it has been demonstrated to slow - and in some cases even undo - some of the manifestations of MND. It has been referred to as "truly remarkable" and a "significant point of optimism" for the whole disease. Although the drug has recently been approved in the European Union, it is not currently accessible in the UK. There is only one pharmaceutical presently approved for the treatment of MND in the UK and approved by the NHS. Riluzole may slow down the advancement of the disease and increase survival by a few months, but it does not reverse damage. Determining Survival Rate for MND? Some people can survive for decades with MND, such as renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, who was identified at the twenty-two years old and lived to 76. But for most, the illness advances rapidly and life expectancy is only several years. According to the charity MND Association, the disease claims the lives of a third of people within a year and more than half within two years 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 remain living. Are Athletes More Likely to Be Diagnosed? 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 showed that professional footballers have an increased risk of developing MND. Research from 2022 by the Glasgow University including 400 ex- Scotland rugby union players concluded they had an increased risk of developing the disease. Scientists also found that rugby athletes who have suffered multiple concussions have physiological variations that may make them more susceptible to contracting MND. The MND Association recognizes there is a "correlation" between contact sports and MND. It noted that while the sportspeople studied were more likely to acquire MND, it did not show the sports directly led to the disease. The organization also emphasises that "reported MND cases in these studies is remains quite small, and so determining there is a certain elevated chance could be misinterpreted if this is merely a cluster due to random chance". Several high-profile athletes have been diagnosed with the disease in recent years. This encompasses former rugby union players, footballers, and cricketers. Across the Atlantic, baseball player Lou Gehrig died from the condition aged 39.