Understanding MND and Are Athletes More Likely to Receive a Diagnosis?
MND impacts nerves located 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 how you walk, talk, eat and breathe.
This is a relatively rare disease that is most frequent in individuals over 50, but adults of any age can be affected.
An individual's lifetime risk of contracting MND is one in 300.
About 5,000 adults in the UK will have the disease at any one time.
Scientists are not sure what causes MND, but it is likely to be a combination of the genes - or inherited characteristics - you get from your mother and father when you are born, and additional environmental influences.
In as many as 10% of individuals with MND, specific genes are far more significant.
There is usually a family history of the disease in such instances.
What are the First Signs of the Disease?
MND impacts each person uniquely.
Not everyone has the identical signs, or experiences them in the same order.
The condition can advance at varying rates too.
Some of the most frequent signs are:
- loss of muscle strength and muscle spasms
- rigid articulations
- problems with how you speak
- issues with swallowing, eating and drinking
- weakened coughing
Does There Exist a Treatment?
No cure, but there is hope stemming from treatments focused on various types of MND.
MND is not one disease - it is actually multiple that result in the death of nerve cells.
A new drug known as tofersen is effective in only one in 50 patients, however it has been shown to decelerate - and in certain instances even undo - some of the symptoms of MND.
It has been described as "truly remarkable" and a "real moment of optimism" 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 management of MND in the UK and approved by the NHS.
Riluzole may slow down the advancement of the disease and increase survival by several months, but it cannot repair harm.
What is Survival Rate for MND?
Some people can live for many years with MND, including renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, who was identified at the age of 22 and survived until 76.
But for most, the disease progresses quickly and life expectancy is only several years.
Based on the charity MND Association, the condition claims the lives of a third of individuals within a year and more than half within 24 months of diagnosis.
As the nerve cells cease functioning, ingestion and breathing become more challenging and many people need feeding tubes or breathing apparatus to help them stay alive.
Do Sports Professionals At Greater Risk to Receive a Diagnosis?
The precise reason has not been identified, but top-level sportspeople appear overrepresented by MND.
Two studies from 2005 and 2009 indicated that soccer players have an increased risk of contracting MND.
A 2022 study by the Glasgow University involving four hundred former Scotland rugby union players determined they had an increased risk of acquiring the condition.
Researchers also found that rugby athletes who have experienced repeated head injuries 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 sportspeople studied were had a greater chance to develop MND, it did not show the athletic activities directly caused the disease.
The organization also emphasises that "reported MND instances in this research is remains quite small, and so concluding there is a definite increased risk could be misinterpreted if this is merely a grouping due to statistical coincidence".
Several high-profile athletes have been identified with the disease in the past few years.
These include former rugby players, footballers, and cricket athletes.
In the United States, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig succumbed to the condition aged 39.
