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Motor neurone disease affects nerve cells found in the brain and spinal cord, that instruct your muscles what to do.

This leads them to lose strength and stiffen over time and usually affects your walking, talk, eat and respire.

This is a quite uncommon disease that is most common in individuals over 50, but adults of all ages can be affected.

An individual's lifetime risk of developing MND is one in 300.

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

Scientists are not sure what causes MND, but it is likely to be a combination of the genetic material - or inherited characteristics - you inherit from your parents when you are delivered, and other lifestyle factors.

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

There is usually a hereditary background of the illness in these cases.

Identifying the Early Symptoms of the Condition?

MND affects everyone differently.

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

The disease can progress at different speeds too.

Some of the most common indicators are:

• muscle weakness and cramps
• stiff joints
• problems with your speech
• issues with ingesting, eating and drinking
• reduced cough reflex

Is There a Treatment?

There is no cure, but there is optimism stemming from treatments focused on different forms of MND.

MND is not a single illness - it is actually several that culminate in the death of motor neurones.

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

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

Even though the medication has recently been approved in the European Union, it is not yet available 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 condition and increase survival by several months, but it cannot repair harm.

What is Survival Rate for MND?

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

But for the majority, the disease progresses quickly and life expectancy is only several years.

Based on the charity MND Association, the disease claims the lives of a one-third of people within a year and over 50% within 24 months of diagnosis.

As the neurons cease functioning, ingestion and breathing become more challenging and numerous individuals need feeding tubes or respiratory aids to help them remain living.

Are Athletes At Greater Risk to Be Diagnosed?

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

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

Research from 2022 by the University of Glasgow involving 400 former Scotland rugby athletes determined they had an higher likelihood of acquiring the condition.

Scientists also found that rugby players who have experienced multiple concussions have physiological variations that could render them more susceptible to developing MND.

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

It noted that while the sportspeople researched were more likely to develop MND, it did not show the sports directly led to the condition.

The organization also emphasises that "documented MND instances in this research is remains quite small, and so determining there is a certain elevated chance could be misinterpreted if this is merely a cluster due to random chance".

Multiple high-profile athletes have been identified with the disease in recent years.

These include former rugby union players, footballers, and cricketers.

Across the Atlantic, baseball player Lou Gehrig died from the condition at the age of 39.