You are probably reading this information because your mum or dad or someone special in the family has Motor Neurone Disease. It is a long name and for short it is often called MND.

Not many people get this illness and some adults you talk to may never have heard of it or know little about it.

We have tried to answer some of the questions you may have about MND, including:

• What is MND?
• What parts of the body are affected by MND?
• Other ways in which MND may affect people.
• What causes it?
• Do children get it?
• Will I get it when I am an adult?
• Do people die because they have MND?
• Your feelings.
• Things to do in the future.
• Acknowledgements.

You can click on the links above or just scroll down the page investigating the areas you would like more information on.

You may also like to link through to the National MND Australia website and download the booklets from Talking with Young People about MND

In the human body there are lots of muscles, and we use many of these to move. But before muscles can move they have to receive instructions or messages from the brain. The messages are sent to the muscle by nerves. These nerves are like the telephone wires which carry messages to operate the telephone in your house.

The main effects are on the muscles in the legs, arms, mouth and throat, but not everyone has all these problems.

The people who have problems moving their legs may have difficulty walking, standing or climbing stairs. They may also find it hard to keep their balance and may fall. To help them get around they may need a stick, or a frame and in some cases a wheelchair.

MND affects people's bodies in different ways and so nobody can say exactly what will happen next. But whatever happens the person is still the same "underneath" as they were before the illness started. Their mind is still the same.

We don't know, but a lot of research is going on to try to find out. We do know that it is not catching.

Nobody can cause MND in another person or make them get worse. We all think hurtful thoughts, or say horrible things to other people sometimes, but this will not give them MND.

No. Only adults get MND. It is most common in people between 50 and 70 years old.

In most cases we can say that you won't. There is a rare type of of MND where more than one member of the family has it. Scientists and doctors are working very hard to try to find out what goes wrong in these cases. Hopefully, in time, we will be able to prevent people in the same family getting MND.

People with MND do not get better. Sadly, it is an illness from which people die. We do not know how long people will be ill as MND varies a great deal from one person to another.

When you Mum or Dad or someone special has MND it is natural to feel sad when you remember how they used to be. Sometimes you feel so sad that you want to cry.

Knowing that your Mum or Dad or someone you love is not going to get better is sad, and hard for you. There may be things you can do to make your time together special.

The Motor Neurone Disease Association of Victoria is indebted to MNDA UK for their approval to reproduce the above text. In particular, we wish to thank Sue Morley (Regional Care Adviser, MNDA UK) for her work in compiling the information and the comments of parents, carers and other colleagues.