Motor Neurone Disease

Motor Neurone Disease (MND) affects around 5000 people at any one time in the UK per year. This disease affects mostly adults off all ages and is most common in adults over the age of 40. MND is also found in children but this is rare. Nearly double the amount of men are diagnosed with this disease than woman.

MND is a condition that attacks the lower and upper motor neurones. This leads to several problems which include loss of mobility within the limbs, difficulties with breathing, speech and also with swallowing. Weakness and wasting of muscles which effects walking also occurs.

Early signs of MND will be problems holding and gripping objects which is a sign of a weakened grip. Weakness in the hip or ankles which causes tripping and also weakness in the shoulder which will reduce your ability when trying to raise the arm over the head. Other noticeable patterns may include muscle cramps, weight loss, wasting and twitching of the muscles all of which are usually pain free.

There is no current cure for MND but there are treatments that can delay the progression of this disease. There is currently only one drug that has shown any benefit for people suffering from MND and this is called Riluzole which is approved by the NHS. This was shown to prolong sufferers lives by 2 to 3 months on average.

The most famous person who has MND is Stephen Hawkins.

Please help us find a cure for this disease. If you would like to donate please click on the link below https://www.mndcommunity.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=298