Scientists link intense exercise with MND risk in some people

[Northerner]

Regular strenuous exercise raises the risk of developing motor neurone disease (MND) in people who are genetically predisposed to the condition, researchers say.

Scientists at the University of Sheffield found a causal relationship between high intensity physical activity and the disorder among those already susceptible to the disease.

They believe the work marks a major step towards understanding the link between intense exercise, which may contribute to motor neurone injury in certain people, and the neurodegenerative disease, which affects about 5,000 individuals in the UK.

“We have suspected for some time that exercise was a risk factor for MND, but until now this link was considered controversial,” said Dr Johnathan Cooper-Knoc, a neurologist at Sheffield. “This study confirms that in some people, frequent strenuous exercise leads to an increase in the risk of MND.”

Scientists link intense exercise with MND risk in some people

Those with a certain genetic makeup more likely to develop motor neurone disease, study confirms

www.theguardian.com

 

[mikeyB]

I’m not altogether convinced by this report, mainly because MND is uncommon. 5,000 sufferers in the UK population is a tiny amount to get any firm grip on causation, other than abnormal genes. It’s more often a disease of over 50s and older, and is frequently a terminal event. Everyone has a 1 in 300 chance of suffering from it in their lifetime, according to the MND Association data.

Think about that 1 in 300 chance. Then think about how many sports people there are who are doing intensive exercise. Is that 1 in 300 chance different? No. What might change is the age of onset, but is there causative change there? Possibly, but there are people who get MND at a younger age who don’t do intensive exercise. And there’s the problem with ascribing causation in such a small population of sufferers.

I’ve got PLS (Primary Lateral Sclerosis) which is similar to MND, but much rarer, the number of sufferers in the UK is about 3 in 100 cases of MND. We couldn’t all fill three buses. Needless to say, nobody knows what causes it. At least it’s not fatal 🙂

 

[trophywench]

I still feel robbed cos David Niven died of MND. Be fair though Jen - he was getting old by then ...... sigh.

 

[mikeyB]

MND is actually quite a peaceful way to die. You just go to sleep and your body forgets to breathe. Meanwhile, folk who can afford it fly off to Switzerland to end things peacefully to avoid the free experience at home.