MOTOR NEURONE DISEASE

What is it?

Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is the name given to a group of diseases in which the nerve cells (neurones) controlling the muscles that enable us to move around, speak, breathe and swallow fail to work normally.

With no nerves to activate them, muscles gradually weaken and waste. The patterns of weakness vary from person to person.

Who gets it?

The illness is not infectious and normally affects people over 40 years of age, most commonly between 50 and 80 years.

The number of people who will develop MND in one year is approximately 2.2 per 100,000 of the population (incidence): this means that about I00 people develop this condition in Scotland every year.

There is a small subgroup of people with MND (about 5%) in which the disease does seem to have run in the family, but in the vast majority of people, there is no chance of the children of people with MND being affected.

What are the symptoms?

Early symptoms are mild, and include stumbling due to weakness of the leg muscles, difficulty of holding objects due to weakness of hand muscles, slurring of speech or swallowing difficulties due to weakness of the tongue and throat muscles. The effect of MND varies enormously in respect of initial symptoms, rate and pattern of progression, and survival time after diagnosis.

What tests will the Doctor want to do?

The diagnosis of MND is often clinically difficult, and it sometimes is necessary to review patients for some time before the diagnosis becomes relatively certain. The family doctor may suspect the neurological problem, and confirmation of the diagnosis by a Neurologist is desirable.

The diagnosis can be assisted through a range of tests, including some which eliminate other conditions. Often an Electromyograph (EMG) is used, in which a needle is inserted into various muscles to measure their electrical activity. This can assist with both diagnosis and prognosis.

What is the treatment?

At present there is no cure, but co-ordinated research is being carried out across the world and encouraging progress is being made. Costly and unproven therapies are sometimes recommended by well meaning people. Patients should seek professional advice before embarking on unproven therapies.

You may hear through TV or other media of new advances. You should always check with your own Doctor or caring team before you try these.