Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is a neurological disease that damages part of the nervous system. It is also called Lou Gehrig’s disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Few individuals live with this condition for several years. However, this disease has a shorter life expectancy and eventually death. Understanding the early manifestations of motor neurone disease will be helpful for patients to begin effective medications. Read along to know more about the early signs and symptoms of motor neurone disease.
Motor Neurone Disease: Identifying the Initial Warning Signs
The physical condition of a person changes suddenly when MND progresses. This disease affects each person distinctly. Recognizing early indicators of motor neurone disease is necessary. Common initial symptoms of motor neurone disease include numbness in the legs, swallowing difficulties, breathing problems, muscle twitching, extreme tiredness, and more.
Early Signs and Symptoms of Motor Neurone Disease
Numbness in Hands and Feet
The first symptoms of motor neurone disease are visible in the arm and leg. You can experience a weakened grip, tripping over your feet, and problems in holding or picking up objects. Another difficulty is lifting your arm above the head due to shoulder weakness. Usually, all these symptoms are painless.
Swallowing Difficulties
You must be get checked if you are facing choking once swallowing food, saliva, and drink. This symptom can impact your general health. You become dehydrated and undernourished when you find it harder to drink or eat. Additionally, It leads to chest infections when a little bit of food or drink goes in the wrong way in your lungs. You must consult a specialist if you are facing swallowing issues.
Muscle Twitching
A rippling sensation or twitching under the skin can happen due to motor neurone disease. In certain cases, one body part twitches, or several areas twitch at once. Other symptoms like stress, viral infection, tiredness, and more are part of twitching.
Lack of Breathing
In a few cases, begins by affecting the lungs. Shortness of breath and breathing difficulties are the early signs and symptoms of Motor Neurone Disease. Also, you might suffer from headaches and lack of sleep. It is due to your body not emitting carbon dioxide when you normally breathe out.
Faint or Slurred speech
Motor Neuron Disease affects communication and speech in various ways. Slurred speech occurs with weakness in the muscles of the mouth, throat, face, and tongue. If you feel a little breathless, faint speech tends to happen.
Emotional Liability
An unpredictable emotional response is another early symptom of motor neuron disease. Crying when happy and uncontrollably laughing when upset are the emotional outbursts viewable in MND patients. It feels distressing once it happens at inappropriate times. You must get it checked if you have this symptom.
Apart from these, changes in behavior, thinking, saliva problems, dropping things, and more are the initial symptoms of motor neurone disease. If you are facing any of the above symptoms, consult an MND specialist or physician for a better cure. You can improve your quality of life once you receive proper treatments at the correct time.
