As well as aiming to develop effective new treatments for motor neurone disease (MND), a number of research projects are currently focused on finding ways to ensure MND is diagnosed much more quickly.

It can currently take many months to be diagnosed with MND using a series of tests - often to rule out other conditions rather than diagnose MND - a process which causes additional distress and worry to anyone who is displaying symptoms.

Another problem is that it often takes too long for people living with MND to access clinical trials. Often, the eligibility criteria demands that a person taking part is within a certain number of months from symptom onset, but by the time they have been formally diagnosed with MND it can already be way past that point.

The MND Association is committed to see this change.

Recently, MND researchers took another step forward with the discovery of a biomarker or ‘fingerprint’ of MND which can be detected in a simple blood test. The test has been used to confirm MND in people already living with the disease. It can also tell the difference between two types of MND, Parkinson’s disease and Primary Lateral Sclerosis with an accuracy of more than 98%.

The MND Association’s Head of Research, Dr Nick Cole described the development as ‘really encouraging’. He added:

We’d like to get to a position where there is a simple test to speed up diagnosis of MND. Our hope, and that of the MND community, is that this research will lead to the development of that.

Dr Nick Cole, Head of Research at the MND Association

Elsewhere, Professor Majid Hafezparast at the University of Sussex is leading on a project funded by the MND Association which is looking to identify non-coding RNA molecules (ncRNA), which can be found in the blood, to see if they can be used to track disease progression. The hope is that in time, the presence of these molecules could be used to provide greater accuracy and a more personalised approach to prognosis and treatment for the disease.

Similarly, PhD student Ayodeji Ijishakin, is involved in a study using neurofilament – biomarkers that are released into the blood when neurons are damaged – and ‘brain age’ to try and diagnose MND earlier. He is also using neuroimaging, to see what’s happening in the brain in MND and if this can be useful in predicting someone’s disease progression.

Thanks to the continued support of Cure Finders and your regular donations, it is hoped that diagnosing MND and predicting disease progression will become much more accurate in the years to come.