What are the common symptoms

In general, motor neuron disease presents with symptoms (a combination of any of the above) involving one region of the body- for example the initial symptoms may be confined to one arm or one leg or to just the speech and swallow. Over time the symptoms will spread to involve another region and so on in a progressive nature.

 

Arm symptoms- these could involve weakness in the hands with difficulty opening jars or doing buttons for example. There may be weakness in the upper arms where lifting objects or having to raise the arms above the head may become difficult.

 

Leg symptoms- these could range from the sensation of dragging the leg to trips or falls because the foot cannot be raised high enough off the ground to allow normal walking. If the muscles around the hips become weak there could be difficulty getting out of a low chair.

 

Bulbar (muscles for speech and swallow) symptoms- Here the symptoms will usually be difficulty with speech such as articulating the words where speech becomes slurred or alternatively the speech may take on a raspy quality and projection of voice may be a challenge. There may be difficulty with swallowing which may be apparent because of choking episodes or having frequent chest infections because food is going down the wrong way.

 

Breathing- much later in the course of the illness muscles involved in breathing may become weak. This can lead to a person needing a ventilator to help with breathing.

 

Cognition- there is a known association between motor neuron disease and the form of dementia called frontotemporal dementia (see dementia page). This is very rarely present at the start of the illness. Some patients may have what is referred to medically as a “pseudobulbar affect” which means they have a heightened emotional response to situations. For example, if something is mildly humorous they may find it difficult to stop laughing.