You can have Motor Neurone Disease (MND) for months to years with symptoms before a definitive diagnosis, with the average time from symptom onset to diagnosis often cited as 10 to 18 months, though it can be longer as doctors rule out other conditions that mimic MND. The process is lengthy because early symptoms are subtle and overlap with other neurological issues, requiring extensive testing, and a specialist neurologist's expertise is crucial for accurate identification.
Many of the people we talked to had been experiencing symptoms for months or even years before finally getting a diagnosis. Some lived with their symptoms for a long time before deciding to go to their GP, perhaps putting them down to stress, old age, or injury. (See 'First symptoms of MND').
Motor neurone disease (MND) gets worse over several months or years and is usually life-shortening. How quickly this happens varies from one person to another. MND can affect a person's life in many ways including: mobility and movement.
The first signs of Motor Neurone Disease (MND) often involve limb weakness (stumbling, weak grip, trouble holding objects), muscle twitching/cramps, and sometimes speech or swallowing difficulties, but symptoms vary greatly, affecting hands, legs, or throat muscles first, leading to increased fatigue and clumsiness in daily tasks.
Your first symptoms of MND that you notice can be mild, such as: stumbling because of weakness in your leg muscles. difficulty holding and gripping objects because of weakness in your hand muscles. slurred speech and swallowing difficulties because of weakness of your tongue and throat muscles.
Some of the more common conditions that can mimic MND include:
Several meta-analyses have underscored the correlation between MND and stress caused by trauma, particularly head trauma. However, a clear causal relationship between the two has not been definitively established [ 28 , 29 ].
Weakness. Progressive muscle weakness is a feature of MND, but can be variable in its severity, progression and distribution. In the lower limbs it may present as foot drop, a tendency to trip, difficulty in rising from chairs and excessive fatigue on walking.
In 1963, while a graduate student at the University of Cambridge, Hawking began experiencing early symptoms of ALS, such as muscle weakness and slurred speech. These initial manifestations rapidly progressed, leading to a diagnosis that came with a grim prognosis—2 years to live.
There's no single test for MND. Various tests might be used to rule out other possible causes of the your symptoms. Tests might include: blood tests – these can be used for several reasons, like checking that organs are working, or to look for a marker of muscle damage (creatinine kinase)
The exact cause of Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is unknown, but it's believed to result from a complex mix of genetic predisposition, environmental factors (like toxins or intense exercise), and lifestyle influences, with most cases being sporadic (no known cause) and only 5-10% being familial (inherited). Researchers are exploring potential triggers such as genetic mutations (like C9orf72, SOD1), heavy metals, pesticides, viruses, and issues with cellular waste disposal or nerve signaling.
Researchers at Durham University also found rugby players who have suffered multiple concussions have biological differences that may make them more prone to developing MND. The MND Association acknowledges there is a "correlation" between contact sports and MND.
Early signs of ALS often involve painless muscle weakness, such as tripping or dropping things, along with muscle twitching (fasciculations), cramping, and stiffness (spasticity), commonly starting in limbs but sometimes affecting speech (slurring) or swallowing (choking). Other early indicators include significant fatigue, poor balance, or even uncontrollable laughing/crying (pseudobulbar affect). These symptoms usually begin subtly in one area and spread, affecting daily activities before becoming severe.
The MRI scan cannot diagnose motor neurone disease but can look for evidence of other causes of a patient's symptoms such as damage to the spinal cord in the neck (upper motor neurone) and the nerves that leave the neck to supply the muscles (lower motor neurone) caused by 'wear and tear' changes.
Motor neuron disease progresses in three stages – Early, Intermediate, and Advanced. Symptoms of MND develop slowly and are mostly ignored. Symptoms depend on the type of MND you have, and which part is affected: Arms.
In adults, MNDs are more likely to be sporadic, meaning the disease occurs with no family history. Symptoms typically appear after age 50, though onset of disease can occur at any age. While some MNDs are inherited, the causes of most MNDs are not known.
Stephen Hawking's "last warnings" focused on humanity's existential risks, urging us to become a multi-planetary species to survive threats like climate change, asteroids, and rogue artificial intelligence (AI). He warned that unchecked AI could surpass human intelligence, potentially replacing us, and emphasized the need to colonize other planets before Earth becomes uninhabitable due to self-inflicted or natural disasters, as detailed in his posthumous book Brief Answers to the Big Questions.
ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that attacks motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. This results in the wasting away of muscle, loss of movement, and eventual paralysis. The disease is 100% fatal, with most people living 3-5 years after diagnosis.
Vitamin B12 deficiency can mimic ALS, particularly in its presentation of weakness, numbness, and balance problems. Both conditions can affect the nervous system and lead to muscle weakness and neurological symptoms.
Neuromuscular diseases
They include muscular dystrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple sclerosis (MS), myasthenia gravis and fibromyalgia. These diseases cause several symptoms, including losing strength in the legs, muscle twitching and muscle stiffness.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the most common form of MND and affects both upper and lower motor neurons. Weak muscles, stiff limbs and overactive reflexes are key features of ALS. It most commonly starts in a limb (arm or leg). ALS will progress over time, to other parts of the body.
Background: Constipation has been recently recognized as a complication associated with motor and autonomic dysfunction in patients with motor neuron disease (MND), typified by amyo- trophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, the long-term characteristics of constipation remain unclear in patients with MND.
Lack of coordination. Muscle rigidity. Tremors and seizures. Back pain that spreads to the feet, toes, or other parts of the body.
This study confirms that in some people, frequent strenuous exercise leads to an increase in the risk of MND. “It is important to stress that we know that most people who undertake vigorous exercise do not develop MND. Sport has a large number of health benefits and most sportsmen and women do not develop MND.
Common physical signs of stress