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There is no (17) .......... cause of Motor Neurone Disease, nor is there any effective cure, and its symptoms manifest differently across individual sufferers. The rate at which the disease progresses is equally difficult to predict. (18) .......... , for anyone who receives a diagnosis, the (19) .......... of contracting it is devastating: the (20) .......... is invariably terminal.
The disease operates by progressively disrupting the electrical signals transmitted by synapses in the brain to the muscles, causing sufferers to experience (21) .......... diminishing mobility as the condition advances. Synapse by synapse, the transmission of neural messages ceases, and (22) .......... the muscles are rendered entirely inactive.
Researchers have identified a possible association between MND and physical trauma, with studies conducted on professional rugby players producing evidence that those who sustained repeated concussions during their careers face a significantly (23) .......... risk of developing the disease in later life. While this hypothesis remains contentious within the scientific community, there is broad agreement that there is (24) .......... no definitive explanation for why the disease occurs.