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

This leads them to lose strength and become rigid over time and usually affects your walking, speak, consume food and respire.

This is a quite uncommon disease that is most common in individuals above age fifty, but adults of all ages can be affected.

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

Approximately five thousand adults in the UK are living with the disease at any given moment.

Scientists are uncertain the cause of MND, but it is likely to be a combination of the genes - or inherited characteristics - you inherit from your mother and father when you are born, and other environmental influences.

For up to one in 10 people with MND, particular genetic factors play a much larger role.

There is usually a hereditary background of the disease in such instances.

What are the First Signs of the Disease?

MND impacts each person uniquely.

Not all individuals has the same symptoms, or encounters them in the same order.

The disease can progress at different speeds too.

Some of the most frequent signs are:

• loss of muscle strength and muscle spasms
• stiff joints
• problems with your speech
• issues with swallowing, consuming food and drinking
• reduced cough reflex

Is There a Treatment?

There is no definitive treatment, but there is optimism stemming from treatments focused on various types of MND.

MND is not a single illness - it is really several that result in the demise of motor neurones.

An innovative medication called tofersen works in only one in 50 patients, however it has been shown to slow - and in some cases even reverse - some of the manifestations of MND.

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

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

Just one pharmaceutical currently licensed for the management of MND in the UK and approved by the NHS.

Riluzole could decelerate the advancement of the condition and prolong life by several months, but it does not reverse damage.

Determining Survival Rate for MND?

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

But for most, the illness progresses quickly and survival time is just a few years.

According to the non-profit MND Association, the disease claims the lives of a one-third of people within a year and over 50% within 24 months 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 exact cause has not yet been found, but elite athletes appear overrepresented by MND.

A pair of research projects from 2005 and 2009 showed that professional footballers have an increased risk of developing MND.

A 2022 study by the Glasgow University including four hundred ex- Scotland rugby union players concluded they had an higher likelihood of developing the disease.

Scientists additionally discovered that rugby players who have experienced multiple concussions have physiological variations that may make them more susceptible to contracting MND.

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

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

The organization also emphasises that "documented MND instances in these studies is still relatively low, and so concluding there is a definite increased risk could be misinterpreted if this is merely a cluster due to statistical coincidence".

Multiple high-profile sports figures have been identified with the condition in recent years.

These include ex- rugby union players, soccer players, and cricket athletes.

Across the Atlantic, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig succumbed to the disease at the age of 39.