Welcome to these pages for those people living with the less common forms of MND.
Progressive Muscular Atrophy (PMA) is a rarer and sometimes slower progressive form of Motor Neurone Disease affecting the lower motor neurones.
Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS) is a rarer and generally slower progressive form of Motor Neurone Disease affecting the upper motor neurones.
ALS, the usual form of MND, affects both the upper and lower motor neurones. Research leads many neurologists to view PMA and PLS as part of the spectrum of ALS, but in the short term (and for many, the medium and long term) they can behave quite differently.
See our information for download at the bottom of this page, for detailed explanations of these types of MND.
With PMA affecting around 5% and PLS affecting around 0.5% of all people living with MND, it is inevitable that people living with PMA or PLS, are geographically dispersed and can feel quite isolated. Frustration at the lack of information and the inability to compare notes with others, compounds the difficulties faced by this small group of people.
If you have been diagnosed with either PMA or PLS, you may find it helpful to refer to the following:
