Understanding MND and Are Athletes More Likely to Be Diagnosed?
MND impacts nerve cells located in the cerebrum and spinal cord, that instruct your muscle tissue how to function.
This causes them to lose strength and become rigid gradually and usually affects how you walk, talk, consume food and breathe.
This is a quite uncommon disease that is most common in individuals above age fifty, but adults of all ages can be affected.
A person's chance in their life of developing MND is one in 300.
Approximately five thousand people in the UK will have the condition at any given moment.
Researchers are uncertain what causes MND, but it is likely to be a combination of the genetic material - or biological traits - you inherit from your parents when you are delivered, and additional environmental influences.
In as many as 10% of individuals with MND, particular genetic factors are far more significant.
Typically there is a family history of the illness in these cases.
Identifying the First Signs of the Disease?
MND impacts each person uniquely.
Not all individuals has the same symptoms, or experiences them in the identical sequence.
The disease can progress at different speeds too.
Among the most frequent indicators are:
- muscle weakness and muscle spasms
- rigid articulations
- problems with how you speak
- issues with ingesting, eating and taking fluids
- weakened coughing
Is There a Cure?
No definitive treatment, but there is hope stemming from treatments targeted at different forms of MND.
MND is not a single illness - it is really several that result in the demise of motor neurones.
A new drug known as tofersen works in just 2% of patients, however it has been shown to slow - and in certain instances even reverse - a portion of the manifestations of MND.
It has been described as "truly remarkable" and a "real moment of hope" for the entire condition.
Although the drug has recently received approval in the European Union, it is not yet available in the UK.
There is only one pharmaceutical 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 prolong life by several months, but it does not reverse harm.
Determining Survival Rate for MND?
Certain individuals can survive for decades with MND, including renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, who was identified at the twenty-two years old and lived to 76.
But for the majority, the illness advances rapidly and survival time is only several years.
Based on the charity MND Association, the disease kills a third of people within a year and over 50% within 24 months of identification.
As the nerve cells stop working, ingestion and breathing become more challenging and many people need nutritional support or breathing apparatus to help them remain living.
Are Athletes More Likely to Receive a Diagnosis?
The precise reason has not yet been found, but top-level sportspeople appear overrepresented by MND.
A pair of research projects from 2005 and 2009 showed that professional footballers have an elevated chance of contracting MND.
A 2022 study by the Glasgow University including four hundred former Scotland rugby athletes concluded they had an higher likelihood of acquiring the disease.
Scientists also found that rugby athletes who have suffered repeated head injuries have biological differences that could render them more susceptible to contracting MND.
The MND Association acknowledges there is a "link" between collision sports and MND.
It added that while the sportspeople studied were had a greater chance to acquire MND, it did not show the sports directly led to the disease.
The charity also emphasises that "documented MND instances in this research is still relatively low, and so determining there is a definite increased risk could be misunderstood if this is merely a grouping due to random chance".
Several high-profile sports figures have been diagnosed with the condition in the past few years.
These include former rugby union internationals, soccer players, and cricket athletes.
In the United States, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig died from the condition aged 39.
