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MND impacts nerves located in the cerebrum and spinal cord, which tell your muscles what to do.

This causes them to weaken and become rigid gradually and typically impacts your walking, speak, consume food and breathe.

This is a quite uncommon disease that is most frequent in people over 50, but grown-ups of any age can be affected.

An individual'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 given moment.

Scientists are not sure what causes MND, but it is probable to be a combination of the genetic material - or inherited characteristics - you get from your parents when you are delivered, and additional lifestyle factors.

For up to 10% of people with MND, particular genetic factors are far more significant.

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

Identifying the Early Symptoms of the Disease?

MND affects everyone differently.

Not everyone has the identical signs, or experiences them in the identical sequence.

The disease can advance at varying rates too.

Among the most frequent signs are:

• muscle weakness and cramps
• rigid articulations
• difficulties in how you speak
• complications involving swallowing, consuming food and taking fluids
• reduced cough reflex

Is There a Treatment?

There is no cure, but there is optimism coming from treatments targeted at different forms of MND.

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

An innovative medication known as tofersen works in only one in 50 patients, however it has been shown to slow - and in certain instances even reverse - a portion of the symptoms of MND.

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

Although the drug has recently been approved in the EU, it is not currently accessible in the UK.

Just one pharmaceutical currently licensed for the management of MND in the UK and approved by the NHS.

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

Determining Survival Rate for MND?

Some people can survive for decades with MND, including renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, who was diagnosed at the age of 22 and lived to 76.

But for the majority, the illness progresses quickly and life expectancy is just a few years.

According to the non-profit MND Association, the disease claims the lives of a one-third of people within a year and more than half within 24 months of diagnosis.

As the neurons stop working, swallowing and breathing become increasingly difficult and numerous individuals need nutritional support or breathing apparatus to help them stay alive.

Do Sports Professionals More Likely to Be Diagnosed?

The precise reason has not been identified, but elite athletes seem overrepresented by MND.

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

A 2022 study by the Glasgow University including four hundred former Scotland rugby athletes determined they had an higher likelihood of acquiring the disease.

Researchers also found that rugby players who have suffered multiple concussions have biological differences that could render them more prone to contracting MND.

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

It noted that while the sportspeople studied were had a greater chance to acquire MND, it did not show the sports directly caused the disease.

The charity also stresses that "reported MND instances in these studies is remains quite small, and so determining there is a definite increased risk could be misunderstood if this is simply a grouping due to statistical coincidence".

Several prominent athletes have been diagnosed with the disease in the past few years.

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

In the United States, baseball player Lou Gehrig succumbed to the condition aged 39.