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MND impacts nerves located in the brain and spine, that instruct your muscles what to do.

This causes them to weaken and become rigid over time and typically impacts how you walk, talk, consume food and breathe.

It is a relatively rare condition that is most common in people over 50, but grown-ups of any age can be impacted.

An individual's chance in their life of developing MND is one in 300.

About five thousand adults in the UK will have the disease at any given moment.

Researchers are not sure what causes MND, but it is likely to be a combination of the genetic material - or biological traits - you get from your mother and father when you are delivered, and additional environmental influences.

In as many as one in 10 people with MND, specific genes are far more significant.

Typically there is a family history of the illness in such instances.

Identifying the Early Symptoms of the Disease?

MND impacts each person uniquely.

Not everyone has the same symptoms, or experiences them in the same order.

The disease can progress at different speeds too.

Some of the most common signs are:

• loss of muscle strength and cramps
• rigid articulations
• difficulties in how you speak
• complications involving ingesting, eating and drinking
• weakened coughing

Does There Exist a Treatment?

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

MND is not one disease - it is really several that result in the demise of motor neurones.

An innovative medication known as tofersen is effective in only one in 50 patients, however it has been shown to slow - and in certain instances even reverse - some of the manifestations of MND.

It has been described as "truly remarkable" and a "significant point of optimism" for the entire condition.

Although the drug has recently been approved in the EU, it is not yet available in the UK.

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

Riluzole may slow down the progression of the disease and increase survival by a few months, but it does not reverse damage.

Determining 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 just a few years.

Based on the charity MND Association, the disease claims the lives of a one-third of people within a twelve months and more than half within two years of diagnosis.

As the nerve cells cease functioning, ingestion and respiration become increasingly difficult and many people need nutritional support or respiratory aids 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 seem overrepresented by MND.

Two studies from 2005 and 2009 showed that professional footballers have an elevated chance of developing MND.

Research from 2022 by the Glasgow University including 400 former Scotland rugby athletes determined they had an higher likelihood of acquiring the condition.

Scientists additionally discovered that rugby athletes who have suffered multiple concussions have biological differences that may make them more prone to contracting MND.

The MND Association recognizes there is a "link" between collision sports and MND.

It added that while the athletes studied were had a greater chance to develop MND, it did not prove the sports directly caused the condition.

The charity also emphasises that "documented MND instances in this research is still relatively low, and so concluding there is a definite increased risk could be misunderstood if this is merely a cluster due to random chance".

Multiple high-profile sports figures have been identified with the condition in the past few years.

These include former rugby players, footballers, and cricketers.

In the United States, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig died from the disease at the age of 39.