In the epidemiology session Dr Gergo Erdi-Kraus shared insights into his research on extreme exercise and MND. He’s been exploring whether intense physical activity might increase the risk of developing MND in people who carry a change in the C9orf72 gene.  

He found, for men with this genetic change, doing extreme amounts of exercise between the ages of 20 and 39 was linked to an earlier onset of the disease. In this instance, extreme means more than 12 hours of any physical activity or more than six hours of vigorous exercise each week. Interestingly, the study found moderate exercise didn’t seem to affect when or whether MND develops. There’s still a lot to learn, and further research is needed to understand exactly how extreme exercise might influence the development of the disease. 

US-based Professor Mark Weisskopf has been discussing a study of nearly 10 million United States veterans to see if the risk of developing MND differs by military branch or rank. 

Researchers found veterans who served in the Air Force, Navy or Coast Guard were more likely to develop MND than those who served in the Army, while Marines had a lower risk. Officers were also more likely to develop MND than enlisted service members, and people who served longer tended to have a lower risk overall. 

These differences suggest certain military jobs or exposures may play a role in causing MND, rather than it being due to the kind of people who choose to serve. 

We’ll bring you more on the biomarkers session including more on research by Katie Hanna, who features in our latest Thumb Print magazine and receives funding from us. She’s looking at the potential for early MND diagnosis from skin tests.  

Stay tuned… 

While colleagues listened to the first ever session on primary lateral sclerosis (PLS), which we covered earlier, I attended the sessions on cognitive and psychological elements of MND. 

Here’s what we learnt. 

We’re just out of the dedicated PLS session! The first time a whole session at the Symposium has been devoted to one particular type of MND - Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS).   

We heard from six expert scientists and clinicians working on PLS who shared the very latest updates on their research. We heard all about diagnosis and monitoring of disease progression, biomarkers and molecular changes in PLS. Then, each presenter shared their hopes for the future of PLS research.  

The session ended with the launch of two PLS prizes to encourage further movement in discovery science and clinical innovation in PLS.