Motor Neurone Disease

A group of disorder which is relatively rare and is responsible for progressive degeneration of the motor systems of the body is known as Motor Neurone Disease. The action of the muscles of the body are controlled by a system of nerve cells which are very complex and are located in the brain and the spinal cord. In the case of MND a progressive degeneration of those nerves creates wasting and weakness of the muscles The most common form is ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) and is also know by the name of Lou Gehrig’s disease.
It is common mostly in persons of 50 to 70 years of age and the risk is twice in Men as compared to Women with a statistic of one person in 50,000 every year getting affected by the disease.
Motor Neurone disease Symptoms
Wasting and weakness of muscles is the first symptom which is likely to first occur in legs or arms with some of the muscles getting more affected than the others. This could result in difficulty in holding objects or walking which occurs when it is in the disease is in the mild stage, however other symptoms which could occur include
Fasciculation or twitching of the muscles which have weakened
Feeling of tiredness
When resting sudden jerking in the legs or arms
In some cases problems in swallowing, chewing or speaking when the weakness or wasting occurs in the muscles which are supplied to the throat or the face.
MND is basically a disease which progresses with time, but the pace of progression is not fixed and greatly varies from one individual to another, and there is also a possibility that it may stop for a short period of time, but as the symptoms start getting to worsen, the person may finally become immobile completely in the later stages of the disease.
This disease is generally not known to affect awareness, intellectual functions, eyesight or hearing functions and similarly the control of the bowels or the bladder including the sexual functions of the body are also generally not known to get affected by the disease.
REASONS OF MOTOR NEURONE DISEASE
Research is still in progress till date and no known reasons or causes are avilable for Motor Neurone disease. There are only some assumptions that some chemicals which are only related to motor neurones get damaged. This could be associated to regularly associating with heavy metals, leather, pesticides and solvents, thereby increasing the chances of MND being developed.
There is also an association in about 5 to 10% of the persons affected by MND where it has been running in the families and one of the family member had earlier been affected by the disease.

DIAGNOSES OF THE DISEASE (MND)
The diagnosis is generally done by making an analysis of the physical symptoms of the motor neurone disease and then coming to the conclusion by eliminating other nervous or muscle diseases which have similar symptoms like multiple sclerosis.
The doctor will refer the case to neurologist in the neurology department ( specialist department for nervous system study). There Are no test which definitely diagnose MND, however multiple tests may be carried out for further findings which are as follows:-
Blood test
MRI Scan
Electrical recording in the muscle is done by inserting a needle into the muscle and the test is called EMG.
HOW TO TREAT MOTOR NEURONE DISEASE
No known cure is available for motor neurone disease and survival time depends where the disease has affected and may vary from two to twenty years. For people suffering from most common form of the disease and is called ALS, there is the drug named by Riluzole for ALS, whch can slow the progression of the disease thus resulting the person suffering to prolong the early stage of the disease. In some cases Vitamin E is also effective for extending the early stage of the disease.
There are many support groups that can be of immense help to people suffering from the disease including the family of the person suffering.