With MND, messages from the motor neurones gradually stop reaching the muscles and this leads them to weaken, stiffen and waste. MND can affect how you walk, talk, eat, drink and breathe. Some people also experience changes to their thinking and behaviour. However, MND affects everyone differently. Not all symptoms will affect everyone, or in the same order and that can progress at varying speeds. This makes the course of the disease difficult to predict. MND is life-shortening and there is no cure. At any one time there are about 5,000 people in the UK who have MND.
The MND Association has excellent information about the disease, and how to live with it, on its website.
There are a number of different types of MND. My consultant was unwilling to classify my particular disease, but I’ve since seen it noted as being the ALS variant (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). Life expectancy is between three to five years from the onset of these symptoms. In my case some random symptoms seemed to start as early as 2018.