Medical Questions » Nerves Questions » Question No. 726
| Question: | My mother has motor neurone disease. Can you explain this condition for me? |
| Answer: | This is one of the nastier diseases that can attack humans. We do not know its cause, and there is no cure; but doctors do know what happens inside the body, and to the patient.
Nerves occur in two main types—sensory and motor. The sensory nerves detect heat, cold, pain and touch. The motor nerves send messages from the brain to make every muscle in the body move as we want it to. In motor neurone disease, these motor nerves slowly degenerate, often in a random pattern around the body, causing weakness in the arms and legs, poor posture, difficulty in speech, and eventually difficulty in breathing. It may get better spontaneously for a few weeks or months, but eventually the disease progresses to the point where the body cannot function adequately.
It is a tragedy to see these people deteriorate, particularly as rhey maintain their normal mental state and intelligence. Active physiotherapy, good nursing care, medications to relieve muscle spasm and infections, and lots of T.L.C. are the main forms of treatment.
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