Study links vigorous exercise to motor neurone disease in genetically predisposed

Motor neurone disease is a neurodegenerative condition causing muscle wasting and progressive disability, affecting high-profile athletes including rugby players Doddie Weir and Joost van der Westhuizen.

A study from the University of Sheffield has confirmed what scientists long suspected but could not prove: for a subset of people carrying certain genetic vulnerabilities, frequent strenuous exercise appears to meaningfully raise the risk of motor neurone disease. The finding does not indict exercise itself — the vast majority of those who train vigorously will never develop the condition — but it places the human body at the intersection of nature and habit, where the same discipline that builds strength may, in rare and specific circumstances, contribute to its undoing. The research opens a

Study links vigorous exercise to motor neurone disease in genetically predisposed

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