We are delighted to announce we have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association. This establishes a solid partnership setting out the intention of our two organisations to work together to ensure good care for people living with and affected by MND.

Six people per day in the UK are diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND). MND is a rapidly progressive and terminal disease that attacks the motor neurones in the brain and spinal cord.[1] It can leave people locked in a failing body, unable to move, talk and eventually breathe. It affects people from all communities and a person’s lifetime risk of developing MND is around 1 in 300. It kills a third of people within a year and more than half within two years of diagnosis. There is, currently, no cure for MND and whilst research into one continues, other research and therapeutic efforts are firmly focussed on managing symptoms and maximising the quality of life for people living with it.

We will be working with the Association as a therapy group that may be in a position to sign post patients to their GP if we suspect there is an underlying cause to the symptoms we are presented with

[1] 1 Bäumer D, Talbot K and Turner MR. Advances in motor neurone disease. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 2014; 107:14.

If you have any questions or would like to know more about the Association please visit their website www.mndassociation.org which holds excellent information resources, information about current research and contact information MND Connect helpline. Alternatively contact Jennifer Bedford at Jennifer.bedford@mndassociation.org.

 

Additionally, if you are a Podiatrist and have any experience of Motor Neurone Disease we’d love to hear from you. Email our team media@iop-uk.org