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MND affects nerve cells found in the brain and spine, which tell your muscles how to function.

This leads them to weaken and stiffen over time and typically impacts your walking, speak, consume food and respire.

It is a quite uncommon disease that is most common in people above age fifty, but grown-ups of all ages can be affected.

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

About five thousand people in the UK will have the disease at any given moment.

Researchers are not sure what causes MND, but it is probable to be a mix of the genes - or biological traits - you get from your mother and father when you are born, and additional environmental influences.

In as many as 10% of individuals with MND, particular genetic factors are far more significant.

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

What are the First Signs of the Condition?

MND affects everyone differently.

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

The condition can advance at varying rates too.

Among the most common signs are:

• muscle weakness and cramps
• rigid articulations
• difficulties in how you speak
• issues with ingesting, consuming food and drinking
• reduced cough reflex

Does There Exist a Treatment?

There is no cure, but there is hope coming from treatments targeted at various types of MND.

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

An innovative medication called tofersen works in only one in 50 patients, however it has been demonstrated to decelerate - and in certain instances even reverse - a portion of the manifestations of MND.

It has been described as "truly remarkable" and a "significant point of optimism" for the whole disease.

Even though the medication has recently received approval in the EU, 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 could decelerate the progression of the disease and increase survival by a few months, but it does not reverse harm.

What is Life Expectancy for MND?

Certain individuals can survive for decades with MND, including theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who was diagnosed at the age of 22 and survived until 76.

But for the majority, the illness advances rapidly and life expectancy is only several years.

Based on the non-profit MND Association, the disease kills a one-third of people within a year and more than half within two years of identification.

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

Do Sports Professionals At Greater Risk to Be Diagnosed?

The exact cause has not been identified, but top-level sportspeople seem overrepresented by MND.

A pair of research projects from 2005 and 2009 indicated that soccer players have an increased risk of developing MND.

Research from 2022 by the Glasgow University including 400 ex- Scotland rugby union players determined they had an increased risk of acquiring the disease.

Scientists also found that rugby athletes who have experienced repeated head injuries have biological differences that could render them more susceptible to developing MND.

The MND Association recognizes 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 sports directly led to the condition.

The organization also stresses that "reported MND instances in these studies is still relatively low, and so determining there is a definite increased risk could be misinterpreted if this is simply a cluster due to random chance".

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

These include ex- rugby union players, soccer players, and cricketers.

In the United States, baseball player Lou Gehrig succumbed to the disease at the age of 39.