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

This causes them to weaken and become rigid gradually and typically impacts your walking, speak, eat and breathe.

This is a quite uncommon condition that is most common in people over 50, but grown-ups of any age can be impacted.

A person's lifetime risk of developing MND is 1 out of 300.

Approximately five thousand people in the UK are living with the condition at any given moment.

Researchers are uncertain what causes MND, but it is probable to be a mix of the genes - or inherited characteristics - you inherit from your parents when you are delivered, and other environmental influences.

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

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

Identifying the Early Symptoms of the Condition?

MND impacts each person uniquely.

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

The disease can progress at varying rates too.

Some of the most frequent indicators are:

• muscle weakness and muscle spasms
• rigid articulations
• difficulties in your speech
• complications involving ingesting, consuming food and drinking
• reduced cough reflex

Does There Exist a Cure?

No definitive treatment, but there is optimism coming from treatments focused on various types of MND.

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

A new drug called tofersen is effective in just 2% of patients, however it has been shown to decelerate - and in certain instances even reverse - a portion of the symptoms of MND.

It has been described as "truly remarkable" and a "significant point 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 drug currently licensed for the treatment of MND in the UK and endorsed by the NHS.

Riluzole may slow down the advancement of the disease and prolong life by a few months, but it cannot repair harm.

Determining Survival Rate for MND?

Some people can survive for decades with MND, including renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, who was identified at the age of 22 and survived until 76.

But for most, the disease advances rapidly and life expectancy is just a few years.

Based on the non-profit MND Association, the condition kills a third of individuals within a twelve months and over 50% within two years of identification.

As the neurons cease functioning, 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 Be Diagnosed?

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

A pair of research projects from 2005 and 2009 showed that professional footballers have an elevated chance of contracting MND.

A 2022 study by the Glasgow University including 400 ex- Scotland rugby union players concluded they had an increased risk of acquiring the condition.

Researchers also found that rugby athletes who have experienced repeated head injuries have biological differences that may make them more susceptible to developing MND.

The MND Association acknowledges there is a "link" between contact sports and MND.

It noted that while the athletes researched were had a greater chance to develop MND, it did not prove the sports directly led to the condition.

The organization also stresses that "reported MND instances in this research is still relatively low, and so concluding there is a certain elevated chance could be misinterpreted if this is simply a cluster due to random chance".

Several high-profile athletes have been identified with the condition in the past few years.

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

Across the Atlantic, baseball player Lou Gehrig succumbed to the disease aged 39.