What is MND and Are Athletes More Likely to Receive a Diagnosis?
MND impacts nerve cells located in the cerebrum and spine, that instruct your muscle tissue how to function.
This leads them to lose strength and stiffen over time and typically impacts how you walk, speak, consume food and breathe.
It is a quite uncommon disease that is most frequent in individuals above age fifty, but grown-ups of any age can be impacted.
An individual's lifetime risk of developing MND is one in 300.
About five thousand adults in the UK are living with the condition at any one time.
Researchers are not sure the cause of MND, but it is likely to be a combination of the genetic material - or inherited characteristics - you get from your mother and father when you are delivered, and additional lifestyle factors.
In as many as one in 10 people with MND, particular genetic factors play a much larger role.
There is usually a hereditary background of the illness in these cases.
What are the Early Symptoms of the Condition?
MND affects everyone differently.
Not all individuals has the same symptoms, or experiences them in the same order.
The disease can advance at different speeds too.
Among the most common indicators are:
- loss of muscle strength and cramps
- stiff joints
- problems with how you speak
- issues with swallowing, eating and taking fluids
- weakened coughing
Does There Exist a Treatment?
No cure, but there is optimism coming from treatments targeted at different forms of MND.
MND is not a single illness - 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 individuals, however it has been demonstrated to decelerate - and in some cases even undo - some of the manifestations of MND.
It has been described as "truly remarkable" and a "real moment of hope" for the whole disease.
Although the medication has recently received approval in the EU, it is not currently accessible in the UK.
There is only one pharmaceutical currently licensed for the treatment of MND in the UK and endorsed by the NHS.
Riluzole may slow down the advancement of the disease and prolong life by several months, but it does not reverse damage.
What is Life Expectancy for MND?
Some people 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 illness progresses quickly and survival time is just a few years.
Based on the non-profit MND Association, the condition claims the lives of a third of individuals within a year and over 50% within two years of identification.
As the neurons cease functioning, ingestion and breathing become increasingly difficult and many people need nutritional support or respiratory aids to help them stay alive.
Do Sports Professionals More Likely to Be Diagnosed?
The exact cause has not been identified, but elite athletes seem overrepresented by MND.
Two studies from 2005 and 2009 showed that soccer players have an increased risk of developing MND.
A 2022 study by the Glasgow University involving 400 ex- Scotland rugby athletes determined they had an higher likelihood of acquiring the disease.
Researchers additionally discovered that rugby players who have experienced multiple concussions have biological differences that may make them more susceptible to developing MND.
The MND Association recognizes there is a "correlation" between contact sports and MND.
It added that while the sportspeople researched were had a greater chance to acquire MND, it did not show the athletic activities directly caused the condition.
The charity also emphasises that "reported MND instances in these studies is remains quite small, and so determining there is a certain elevated chance could be misunderstood if this is merely a cluster due to statistical coincidence".
Several high-profile sports figures have been identified with the disease in the past few years.
This encompasses former rugby union internationals, footballers, and cricketers.
Across the Atlantic, baseball player Lou Gehrig died from the condition aged 39.
