Understanding MND and Are Athletes More Likely to Receive a Diagnosis?
Motor neurone disease impacts nerves located in the brain and spinal cord, which tell your muscles how to function.
This leads them to weaken and stiffen gradually and typically impacts how you walk, talk, consume food and respire.
It is a quite uncommon condition that is most frequent 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 will have the condition at any given moment.
Researchers are uncertain the cause of MND, but it is probable to be a combination of the genes - or biological traits - you inherit from your parents when you are born, and additional environmental influences.
In as many as 10% of individuals with MND, specific genes play a much larger role.
There is usually a hereditary background of the illness in these cases.
Identifying the Early Symptoms of the Disease?
MND impacts each person uniquely.
Not all individuals has the identical signs, or encounters them in the same order.
The disease can advance at varying rates too.
Among the most common indicators are:
- muscle weakness and cramps
- rigid articulations
- difficulties in your speech
- issues with ingesting, eating and drinking
- reduced cough reflex
Does There Exist a Treatment?
No cure, but there is hope stemming from therapies focused on various types of MND.
MND is not one disease - it is really multiple that result in the death of nerve cells.
A new drug called tofersen works in only one in 50 patients, however it has been demonstrated to decelerate - and in certain instances even reverse - some of the manifestations of MND.
It has been referred to as "absolutely groundbreaking" and a "significant point of optimism" for the entire condition.
Although the drug has recently received approval in the European Union, it is not currently accessible in the UK.
There is only 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 condition and increase survival by several months, but it cannot repair harm.
Determining Survival Rate for MND?
Some people can live for many years with MND, including theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who was diagnosed at the twenty-two years old and survived until 76.
But for most, the disease advances rapidly and life expectancy is only several years.
Based on the charity MND Association, the disease kills a third of people within a twelve months and over 50% within two years of identification.
As the nerve cells stop working, ingestion and breathing become more challenging and many people need feeding tubes or respiratory aids to help them stay alive.
Are Athletes At Greater Risk 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 soccer players have an increased risk of contracting MND.
A 2022 study by the Glasgow University involving four hundred ex- Scotland rugby union players concluded they had an higher likelihood of developing the disease.
Researchers also found that rugby players who have experienced repeated head injuries have biological differences that may make them more susceptible to contracting MND.
The MND Association acknowledges there is a "correlation" between collision sports and MND.
It added that while the sportspeople studied were more likely to acquire MND, it did not show the athletic activities directly caused the condition.
The organization also emphasises that "documented MND cases in this research is remains quite small, and so concluding there is a definite increased risk could be misinterpreted if this is merely a grouping due to random chance".
Several prominent sports figures have been diagnosed with the condition in recent years.
These include former rugby union internationals, footballers, and cricket athletes.
Across the Atlantic, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig died from the condition at the age of 39.