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

This leads them to weaken and become rigid over time and typically impacts how you walk, talk, consume food and breathe.

This is a quite uncommon disease that is most frequent in people above age fifty, but adults of any age can be impacted.

A person's chance in their life of contracting MND is 1 out of 300.

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

Researchers are uncertain what causes MND, but it is probable to be a combination of the genes - or inherited characteristics - you get from your mother and father when you are delivered, and other lifestyle factors.

In as many as one in 10 individuals with MND, specific genes play a much larger role.

There is usually a family history of the disease in these cases.

Identifying the First Signs of the Disease?

MND impacts each person uniquely.

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

The disease can advance at different speeds too.

Among the most common indicators are:

• muscle weakness and muscle spasms
• rigid articulations
• difficulties in your speech
• issues with ingesting, consuming food and taking fluids
• reduced cough reflex

Does There Exist a Treatment?

There is no cure, but there is hope coming from therapies focused on various types of MND.

MND is not a single illness - it is really several that culminate in the demise of nerve cells.

An innovative medication known as tofersen is effective in just 2% of patients, however it has been demonstrated to slow - and in certain instances even undo - a portion of the symptoms of MND.

It has been described as "absolutely groundbreaking" and a "real moment of hope" for the whole disease.

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

Just one pharmaceutical presently approved for the management of MND in the UK and endorsed by the NHS.

Riluzole may slow down the advancement of the disease and increase survival by a few months, but it cannot repair harm.

What is Life Expectancy for MND?

Some people can live for many years with MND, including renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, who was identified at the age of 22 and survived until 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 people within a twelve months and more than half within two years of diagnosis.

As the nerve cells stop working, ingestion and respiration become increasingly difficult and numerous individuals need feeding tubes or respiratory aids to help them stay alive.

Are Athletes More Likely to Be Diagnosed?

The precise reason has not yet been found, but top-level sportspeople seem overrepresented by MND.

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

A 2022 study by the Glasgow University involving four hundred ex- Scotland rugby athletes concluded they had an higher likelihood of acquiring the disease.

Scientists also found that rugby players who have suffered repeated head injuries have physiological variations that may make them more susceptible to developing MND.

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

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

The organization also stresses that "reported MND cases in these studies is remains quite small, and so concluding there is a definite increased risk could be misunderstood if this is simply a grouping due to random chance".

Several high-profile sports figures have been diagnosed with the disease in recent years.

This encompasses former rugby internationals, footballers, and cricketers.

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