As the late historian Tony Judt, himself killed by MND, put it: "There is no saving grace in being confined to an iron suit, cold and unforgiving … It is like being in a prison which is shrinking by six inches each day".
The LC innervates many cell types that are affected in MND, and it is possible that MND is triggered by toxicant-induced interactions between LC and motor neurons.
Heavy metals have long been implicated in MND, and it has recently been shown that inorganic mercury selectively enters human locus ceruleus (LC) and motor neurons.
The expansion is found in about one in every twelve patients with FTLD or MND, making it the most common genetic causes of both these disorders [ 6- 8].
ALS is a form of Motor Neurone Disease (MND), so perhaps it would make sense that those taking part in the #icebucketchallenge raised funds to fight MND, not cancer?
MND moves fast: it shuts the body down, until walking, talking and swallowing become impossible, and then finally breathing.
Although cerebellar degeneration in AD can be caused by superimposed PSP [ 63], MSA [ 64], or MND [ 65], it often occurs independently.
Conversely, it was recently reported that, in a cohort of 14 C9ORF72 patients, poly GA) inclusions in cerebellar granule cells were significantly more abundant in patients with FTLD compared to patients with MND or FTLD-MND [ 30].
Dignity therapy is not likely to alleviate caregiver burden in MND family carers, but it may have the ability to decrease or moderate anxiety and depression in distressed MND family carers.
