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Motor neurone disease affects nerves found in the brain and spinal cord, which tell your muscles how to function.

This leads them to lose strength and become rigid over time and typically impacts your walking, talk, eat and breathe.

It is a relatively rare disease that is most common in people above age fifty, but adults of any age can be affected.

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

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

Researchers are uncertain the cause of MND, but it is probable to be a mix of the genetic material - or inherited characteristics - you get from your parents when you are born, and additional environmental influences.

In as many as 10% of individuals with MND, particular genetic factors are far more significant.

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

What are the Early Symptoms of the Disease?

MND impacts each person uniquely.

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

The disease can advance at different speeds too.

Among the most common signs are:

• loss of muscle strength and muscle spasms
• stiff joints
• difficulties in how you speak
• complications involving ingesting, consuming food and drinking
• reduced cough reflex

Is There a Cure?

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

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

An innovative medication known as 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 "real moment of hope" for the whole disease.

Although the drug has recently received approval in the European Union, it is not yet available in the UK.

Just one pharmaceutical presently approved 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 cannot repair harm.

What is Survival Rate for MND?

Some people can survive for decades with MND, such as renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, who was identified at the twenty-two years old and lived to 76.

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

According to the charity MND Association, the condition claims the lives of a one-third of individuals within a twelve months and more than half within 24 months of identification.

As the nerve cells cease functioning, swallowing and breathing become more challenging and numerous individuals need feeding tubes or breathing apparatus to help them stay alive.

Are Athletes More Likely to Be Diagnosed?

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 increased risk of contracting MND.

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

Scientists additionally discovered that rugby athletes who have suffered repeated head injuries have biological differences that could render them more susceptible to developing MND.

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

It noted that while the sportspeople researched were more likely to develop MND, it did not prove the sports directly caused the disease.

The organization also stresses that "documented MND cases in these studies is still relatively low, and so concluding there is a certain elevated chance could be misunderstood if this is merely a cluster due to statistical coincidence".

Several high-profile sports figures have been diagnosed with the condition in the past few years.

These include former rugby internationals, footballers, and cricketers.

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