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

This leads them to lose strength and become rigid gradually and typically impacts 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 any age can be affected.

A person's chance in their life of developing MND is 1 out of 300.

Approximately 5,000 people in the UK are living with the disease at any given moment.

Researchers are not sure what causes MND, but it is likely to be a mix of the genetic material - or biological traits - you get from your parents when you are born, and additional lifestyle factors.

For up to 10% of people with MND, specific genes are far more significant.

Typically there is a hereditary background of the illness in such instances.

What are the First Signs of the Condition?

MND impacts each person uniquely.

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

The disease can advance at varying rates too.

Among the most frequent signs are:

• muscle weakness and muscle spasms
• stiff joints
• problems with your speech
• issues with ingesting, eating and taking fluids
• reduced cough reflex

Is There a Cure?

No definitive treatment, but there is optimism stemming from treatments targeted at various types of MND.

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

A new drug known as tofersen is effective in only one in 50 patients, however it has been demonstrated to slow - and in some cases even reverse - a portion of the symptoms of MND.

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

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

There is only one drug currently licensed for the management 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 Survival Rate for MND?

Some people can live for many years with MND, such as theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who was identified at the age of 22 and survived until 76.

But for most, the illness advances rapidly and survival time is just a few years.

Based on the charity MND Association, the disease kills a third of people within a year and more than half within 24 months of diagnosis.

As the nerve cells cease functioning, ingestion and breathing become more challenging and numerous individuals need nutritional support or breathing apparatus to help them remain living.

Do Sports Professionals More Likely to Be Diagnosed?

The exact cause has not yet been found, but elite athletes appear disproportionately affected by MND.

Two studies from 2005 and 2009 indicated that professional footballers have an increased risk of developing MND.

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

Researchers additionally discovered that rugby players who have experienced repeated head injuries have biological differences that may make them more prone to developing MND.

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

It added that while the athletes studied were more likely to acquire MND, it did not prove the sports directly led to the condition.

The organization also stresses that "reported MND instances in these studies is still relatively low, 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 sports figures have been identified with the disease in the past few years.

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

In the United States, baseball player Lou Gehrig died from the condition aged 39.