Motor Neurone Disease: Sarah's Story

I stumbled upon this video and found this topic interesting after viewing it.

What is MND (Motor Neurone Disease)?

Motor neurone disease (MND) is a degenerative disease that affects the motor system through the motor neurone, and the nerve cells in the brain, and the spinal cord that controls muscles which will progressively lead to weakness and wasting of muscles, . It can affect any adult at any time. Its cause is not known and there is no known cure for this fatal disease. The only treatment for MND is a medication known as Riluzole, which simply decelerates the progression of the disease.

Losing control of the muscles that control breathing, swallowing, and even the most basic of movement are the things which an unfortunate victim of this disease is suffering. Motor neurone disease strike in middle age. In the UK alone, at least 5 people a day die from this disease. Life expectancy of people affected with MND is only 2-5 years, after the first appearance of symptoms.

What is Motor System?

The Motor system,as in an automobile, is the main engine of the human body. It controls every movement we make like nodding, walking, lifting a cup, singing or dancing. The main part of the motor system is the motor neurone.

Motor neurone is a complex system of motor nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord which control muscle's actions. Motor neurones are divided into two: the lower and the upper motor neurone.

The lower motor neuron disorders happens in the spinal cord and motor nerves in the muscles around the arms, legs, torso and motor cells in the brain stem which controls movement of face, tongue, eyes and throat.

The upper motor neurone are motor roads in the brain which integrates movement of the lower motor neuron from the brain stem to the spinal cord. A perfect example is how we adapt our body in a moving train, or moving or walking downhill.

Sarah's Story

Sarah Ezekiel, the real Sarah in the video was diagnosed with this disease at the age of 34. She was seven month old pregnant during the time and she had no any idea about the disease . She started to experience rapid loss of motor skills in all of her limbs and progressively losing her speech. To see her full story, please try to visit http://www.sarahsstory.org.uk/

The advert video is shocking and disturbing and reflects the devastation that Motor Neurone Disease causes to the person diagnosed with it. This will raises more awareness as mankind will be nearing of finding a cure for this disease.