What is Motor Neurone Disease and Do Sportspeople At Higher Risk to Receive a Diagnosis?
Motor neurone disease impacts nerves located in the cerebrum and spinal cord, that instruct your muscle tissue what to do.
This causes them to weaken and become rigid over time and typically impacts your walking, speak, consume food and respire.
This is a relatively rare condition that is most frequent in individuals over 50, but adults of any age can be impacted.
An individual's lifetime risk of developing MND is 1 out of 300.
Approximately five thousand adults in the UK will have the disease at any one time.
Scientists are not sure the cause of MND, but it is likely to be a combination of the genes - or inherited characteristics - you get from your parents when you are delivered, and other environmental influences.
For up to 10% of individuals with MND, particular genetic factors play a much larger role.
Typically there is a family history of the illness in these cases.
What are the Early Symptoms of the Condition?
MND affects everyone differently.
Not everyone has the same symptoms, or experiences them in the same order.
The disease can advance at different speeds too.
Some of the most frequent signs are:
- loss of muscle strength and muscle spasms
- rigid articulations
- problems with how you speak
- complications involving ingesting, eating and drinking
- reduced cough reflex
Is There a Treatment?
There is no definitive treatment, but there is hope stemming from treatments focused on various types of MND.
MND is not one disease - it is really multiple 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 undo - a portion of the symptoms of MND.
It has been described as "absolutely groundbreaking" and a "real moment of hope" for the entire condition.
Although the medication has recently received approval in the EU, it is not currently accessible in the UK.
There is only one pharmaceutical presently approved for the treatment of MND in the UK and approved by the NHS.
Riluzole could decelerate the progression of the disease and prolong life by several months, but it does not reverse harm.
What is Life Expectancy for MND?
Some people can survive for decades with MND, including renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, who was identified at the age of 22 and lived to 76.
But for the majority, the illness advances rapidly and life expectancy is just a few years.
According to the non-profit MND Association, the disease claims the lives of a one-third of individuals within a year and over 50% within two years of identification.
As the nerve cells stop working, swallowing and respiration become more challenging and many people need nutritional support or respiratory aids to help them remain living.
Do Sports Professionals More Likely 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 showed that professional footballers have an increased risk of contracting MND.
Research from 2022 by the Glasgow University involving four hundred former Scotland rugby athletes determined they had an higher likelihood of acquiring the disease.
Researchers also found that rugby athletes who have experienced repeated head injuries have physiological variations that may make them more prone to contracting MND.
The MND Association recognizes there is a "link" between contact sports and MND.
It noted that while the athletes studied were more likely to acquire MND, it did not show the athletic activities directly led to the disease.
The charity also stresses that "reported MND instances in these studies is remains quite small, and so determining there is a certain elevated chance could be misunderstood if this is merely a grouping due to statistical coincidence".
Multiple prominent athletes have been identified with the disease in the past few years.
These include ex- rugby union internationals, soccer players, and cricket athletes.
In the United States, baseball player Lou Gehrig succumbed to the disease at the age of 39.
