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Motor neurone disease impacts nerves located in the cerebrum and spinal cord, that instruct your muscles what to do.

This causes them to lose strength and become rigid over time and usually affects your walking, talk, consume food and breathe.

This is a relatively rare disease that is most frequent in individuals above age fifty, but adults of all ages can be impacted.

An individual's chance in their life of developing MND is 1 out of 300.

About five thousand adults in the UK are living with the condition at any given moment.

Scientists are not sure what causes MND, but it is likely to be a combination of the genetic material - or inherited characteristics - you get from your parents when you are born, and other lifestyle factors.

For up to one in 10 people with MND, specific genes are far more significant.

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

What are the Early Symptoms of the Disease?

MND impacts each person uniquely.

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

The condition can progress at varying rates too.

Among the most frequent signs are:

• loss of muscle strength and cramps
• stiff joints
• difficulties in how you speak
• issues with swallowing, eating and drinking
• reduced cough reflex

Does There Exist a Treatment?

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

MND is not one disease - it is really multiple that culminate in the death of motor neurones.

An innovative medication called tofersen works in just 2% of patients, however it has been shown to slow - and in some cases even reverse - some of the symptoms of MND.

It has been referred to as "absolutely groundbreaking" and a "real moment of hope" for the entire condition.

Although the medication has recently been approved in the EU, it is not yet available in the UK.

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

Riluzole could decelerate the advancement of the disease and increase survival by several months, but it does not reverse damage.

What is Survival Rate for MND?

Some people can survive for decades with MND, including theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who was identified at the twenty-two years old and survived until 76.

But for the majority, the disease advances rapidly and survival time is only several years.

Based on the non-profit MND Association, the condition claims the lives of a third of people within a year and over 50% within two years of identification.

As the nerve cells stop working, swallowing and respiration become more challenging and numerous individuals need feeding tubes 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 elite athletes seem overrepresented by MND.

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

A 2022 study by the University of Glasgow involving 400 ex- Scotland rugby union players concluded they had an higher likelihood of developing the condition.

Scientists also found that rugby players who have experienced repeated head injuries have biological differences that may make them more prone to contracting MND.

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

It noted that while the sportspeople studied were more likely to develop MND, it did not prove the athletic activities directly led to the condition.

The charity also stresses that "documented MND instances in these studies is remains quite small, and so determining there is a definite increased risk could be misinterpreted if this is merely a cluster due to random chance".

Multiple prominent sports figures have been identified with the condition in the past few years.

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

Across the Atlantic, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig died from the disease aged 39.