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MND affects nerve cells found in the cerebrum and spinal cord, which tell your muscles what to do.

This leads them to weaken and stiffen gradually and typically impacts how you walk, talk, consume food and breathe.

It is a relatively rare condition that is most common in people above age fifty, but adults of all ages can be affected.

A person's lifetime risk of developing MND is one in 300.

Approximately 5,000 people in the UK are living with the disease at any one time.

Scientists are uncertain what causes MND, but it is likely to be a mix of the genetic material - or biological traits - you inherit from your parents when you are born, and other lifestyle factors.

In as many as one in 10 individuals with MND, particular genetic factors play a much larger role.

Typically there is a hereditary background of the disease in these cases.

Identifying the Early Symptoms of the Disease?

MND affects everyone differently.

Not all individuals has the identical signs, or encounters them in the identical sequence.

The condition can progress at different speeds too.

Among the most frequent indicators are:

• loss of muscle strength and muscle spasms
• rigid articulations
• difficulties in how you speak
• complications involving ingesting, consuming food and taking fluids
• reduced cough reflex

Is There a Treatment?

There is no definitive treatment, but there is optimism coming from therapies targeted at different forms of MND.

MND is not one disease - it is actually multiple that culminate in the demise of motor neurones.

A new drug known as tofersen works in just 2% of individuals, however it has been demonstrated to decelerate - 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 whole disease.

Although the medication has recently received approval in the EU, it is not currently accessible in the UK.

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

Riluzole could decelerate the progression of the disease and increase survival by several months, but it cannot repair harm.

Determining Life Expectancy for MND?

Certain individuals can survive for decades with MND, including theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who was identified at the twenty-two years old and lived to 76.

But for the majority, the disease advances rapidly and life expectancy is only several years.

According to the non-profit MND Association, the condition kills a one-third of individuals within a twelve months and over 50% within two years of identification.

As the nerve cells cease functioning, ingestion and respiration become increasingly difficult and numerous individuals need nutritional support or breathing apparatus to help them remain living.

Do Sports Professionals More Likely to Be Diagnosed?

The exact cause has not been identified, but top-level sportspeople appear overrepresented by MND.

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

Research from 2022 by the University of Glasgow including 400 ex- Scotland rugby union players concluded they had an higher likelihood of acquiring the condition.

Researchers also found that rugby players who have experienced repeated head injuries have physiological variations that may make them more prone to developing MND.

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

It added that while the athletes researched were more likely to develop MND, it did not show the athletic activities directly led to the condition.

The organization also emphasises that "documented MND cases in these studies is still relatively low, and so determining there is a definite increased risk could be misinterpreted if this is merely a grouping due to random chance".

Multiple high-profile athletes have been diagnosed with the disease in the past few years.

These include former rugby union players, soccer players, and cricket athletes.

Across the Atlantic, baseball player Lou Gehrig died from the condition at the age of 39.