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Motor neurone disease impacts nerves located in the brain and spine, that instruct your muscle tissue what to do.

This leads them to weaken and stiffen over time and typically impacts how you walk, speak, eat and respire.

This is a relatively rare disease that is most frequent in individuals over 50, but grown-ups of any age can be affected.

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

About 5,000 adults in the UK are living with the condition at any given moment.

Scientists are not sure the cause of MND, but it is probable to be a combination of the genetic material - or biological traits - you inherit from your parents when you are born, and additional environmental influences.

For up to 10% of people with MND, specific genes play a much larger role.

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

Identifying the First Signs of the Disease?

MND affects everyone differently.

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

The condition can progress at varying rates too.

Among the most frequent signs are:

• muscle weakness and muscle spasms
• stiff joints
• difficulties in how you speak
• issues with swallowing, eating and drinking
• weakened coughing

Is There a Treatment?

No cure, but there is hope coming from treatments targeted at various types of MND.

MND is not a single illness - it is really multiple that result in the demise of nerve cells.

A new drug called tofersen is effective in just 2% of patients, however it has been shown to slow - and in some cases even reverse - some of the manifestations of MND.

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

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

There is only one drug currently licensed for the treatment of MND in the UK and approved by the NHS.

Riluzole may slow down the progression of the condition and increase survival by several months, but it does not reverse damage.

What is Life Expectancy for MND?

Certain individuals can survive for decades with MND, including renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, who was diagnosed at the twenty-two years old and lived to 76.

But for the majority, the illness advances rapidly and life expectancy is only several years.

According to the charity MND Association, the condition claims the lives of a one-third of people within a year and over 50% within 24 months of diagnosis.

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

Are Athletes At Greater Risk to Receive a Diagnosis?

The exact cause has not been identified, but top-level sportspeople seem overrepresented by MND.

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

A 2022 study by the University of Glasgow including 400 ex- Scotland rugby athletes concluded they had an increased risk of developing the disease.

Scientists also found that rugby athletes who have experienced multiple concussions have biological differences that may make them more susceptible to contracting MND.

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

It noted that while the sportspeople studied were more likely to acquire MND, it did not show the sports directly caused the condition.

The organization also emphasises that "reported MND cases in these studies is still relatively low, and so concluding there is a certain elevated chance could be misinterpreted if this is simply a grouping due to statistical coincidence".

Several high-profile sports figures have been identified with the disease in recent years.

These include ex- rugby union players, soccer players, and cricketers.

In the United States, MLB athlete Lou Gehrig succumbed to the disease at the age of 39.