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Motor neurone disease affects nerves found in the brain and spinal cord, that instruct your muscle tissue how to function.

This leads them to lose strength and become rigid gradually and usually affects how you walk, talk, consume food and breathe.

It is a relatively rare disease that is most frequent in individuals over 50, but grown-ups of any age can be impacted.

A person's lifetime risk of developing MND is one in 300.

About five thousand people in the UK are living with the condition at any one time.

Researchers are uncertain the cause of MND, but it is likely 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 one in 10 people 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 affects everyone differently.

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

The condition can advance at different speeds too.

Some of the most common signs are:

• muscle weakness and muscle spasms
• rigid articulations
• difficulties in your speech
• issues with ingesting, eating and drinking
• reduced cough reflex

Does There Exist a Treatment?

There is no cure, but there is hope coming from therapies 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 called tofersen works in only one in 50 patients, however it has been shown to decelerate - and in certain instances even reverse - some of the symptoms of MND.

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

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 treatment of MND in the UK and endorsed by the NHS.

Riluzole could decelerate the advancement of the condition and increase survival by a few months, but it does not reverse damage.

Determining Survival Rate for MND?

Certain individuals can survive for decades with MND, including renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, who was diagnosed at the twenty-two years old and lived to 76.

But for the majority, the disease progresses quickly and survival time is just a few years.

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

As the neurons cease functioning, ingestion and respiration become more challenging and numerous individuals need feeding tubes or breathing apparatus to help them stay alive.

Do Sports Professionals At Greater Risk to Receive a Diagnosis?

The exact cause has not been identified, but elite athletes seem overrepresented by MND.

A pair of research projects from 2005 and 2009 indicated that soccer players have an elevated chance of contracting MND.

A 2022 study by the University of Glasgow involving 400 ex- Scotland rugby union players concluded they had an increased risk of acquiring the condition.

Researchers additionally discovered that rugby athletes who have suffered repeated head injuries have physiological variations that may make them more prone to developing MND.

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

It noted that while the sportspeople researched were more likely to acquire MND, it did not show the athletic activities directly caused the disease.

The organization also stresses that "reported MND cases in this research is still relatively low, and so concluding there is a definite increased risk could be misinterpreted if this is simply a grouping due to random chance".

Several prominent athletes have been diagnosed with the condition in recent years.

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

In the United States, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig died from the condition at the age of 39.