What is MND and Do Sportspeople More Likely to Be Diagnosed?
MND affects nerves located in the brain and spinal cord, which tell your muscles what to do.
This leads them to lose strength and stiffen gradually and usually affects your walking, talk, eat and respire.
It is a quite uncommon disease that is most frequent in individuals above age fifty, but grown-ups of any age can be impacted.
A person's chance in their life of developing MND is one in 300.
Approximately five thousand adults in the UK are living with the disease at any one time.
Researchers are uncertain what causes MND, but it is likely to be a mix of the genetic material - or biological traits - you inherit from your mother and father when you are born, and additional lifestyle factors.
In as many as one in 10 people with MND, particular genetic factors play a much larger role.
Typically there is a hereditary background of the disease in such instances.
What are the Early Symptoms of the Condition?
MND impacts each person uniquely.
Not everyone has the identical signs, or experiences them in the identical sequence.
The condition can advance at varying rates too.
Some of the most frequent indicators are:
- muscle weakness and cramps
- stiff joints
- difficulties in your speech
- complications involving ingesting, consuming food and drinking
- weakened coughing
Is There a Treatment?
No cure, but there is optimism coming from therapies focused on various types of MND.
MND is not one disease - it is actually several that result in the death of motor neurones.
A new drug known as tofersen works in only one in 50 individuals, however it has been demonstrated to decelerate - and in certain instances even reverse - a portion of the manifestations of MND.
It has been referred to as "truly remarkable" and a "significant point of hope" for the entire condition.
Although the drug has recently been approved in the European Union, it is not yet available in the UK.
Just one drug 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 prolong life by several months, but it cannot repair harm.
Determining Survival Rate for MND?
Some people can survive for decades with MND, such as renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, who was diagnosed at the twenty-two years old and lived to 76.
But for the majority, the disease progresses quickly and survival time is only several years.
According to the non-profit MND Association, the condition kills a third of individuals within a twelve months and more than half within 24 months of diagnosis.
As the nerve cells stop working, swallowing and breathing become increasingly difficult and numerous individuals need nutritional support or breathing apparatus to help them stay alive.
Are Athletes More Likely to Be Diagnosed?
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 increased risk of contracting MND.
A 2022 study by the Glasgow University including 400 former Scotland rugby athletes concluded they had an increased risk of developing the condition.
Researchers additionally discovered that rugby athletes who have suffered 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 noted that while the sportspeople studied were more likely to develop MND, it did not prove the sports directly caused the disease.
The charity also emphasises that "documented MND instances in these studies is remains quite small, and so determining there is a definite increased risk could be misunderstood if this is merely a cluster due to statistical coincidence".
Several high-profile sports figures have been diagnosed with the condition in the past few years.
This encompasses former rugby players, soccer players, and cricket athletes.
Across the Atlantic, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig died from the condition aged 39.
