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Motor neurone disease affects nerve cells found in the brain and spinal cord, that instruct your muscles what to do.

This causes them to lose strength and become rigid over time and typically impacts your walking, talk, eat and respire.

This is a quite uncommon disease that is most frequent in people over 50, but grown-ups of any age can be affected.

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

Approximately 5,000 adults in the UK are living with the disease at any one time.

Researchers are not sure what causes MND, but it is probable to be a combination of the genetic material - or inherited characteristics - you inherit from your mother and father when you are delivered, and additional lifestyle factors.

In as many as one in 10 people with MND, particular genetic factors are far more significant.

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

What are the Early Symptoms of the Condition?

MND impacts each person uniquely.

Not everyone has the same symptoms, or experiences them in the identical sequence.

The condition can advance at different speeds too.

Among the most common indicators are:

• muscle weakness and cramps
• stiff joints
• difficulties in how you speak
• issues with swallowing, eating and taking fluids
• reduced cough reflex

Does There Exist a Cure?

No cure, but there is hope coming from treatments focused on different forms of MND.

MND is not one disease - it is actually several that result in the demise of nerve cells.

An innovative medication known as tofersen works in just 2% of patients, however it has been shown to slow - and in certain instances even reverse - some of the manifestations of MND.

It has been referred to as "truly remarkable" and a "real moment of hope" for the whole disease.

Although the medication has recently been approved in the European Union, it is not currently accessible in the UK.

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

Riluzole may slow down the advancement of the disease and increase survival by several months, but it cannot repair damage.

Determining Life Expectancy for MND?

Some people can survive for decades with MND, such as theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who was identified at the age of 22 and lived to 76.

But for most, the illness progresses quickly and life expectancy 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 identification.

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

Are Athletes More Likely to Receive a Diagnosis?

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

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

Research from 2022 by the Glasgow University involving four hundred former Scotland rugby union players concluded they had an higher likelihood of developing the disease.

Scientists additionally discovered that rugby athletes who have experienced multiple concussions have biological differences that may make them more susceptible to developing 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 develop MND, it did not prove the sports directly led to the condition.

The organization also emphasises that "reported MND cases in these studies is remains quite small, and so determining there is a certain elevated chance could be misinterpreted if this is merely a cluster due to statistical coincidence".

Multiple high-profile athletes have been diagnosed with the disease in recent years.

These include former rugby internationals, soccer players, and cricketers.

Across the Atlantic, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig succumbed to the disease aged 39.