THE TELEGRAPH: Professor Dame Pamela Shaw says nearly every MND patient she has seen is physically active – and is now trying to unravel why
“I’ve seen thousands of MND patients,” says the neurologist Professor Pamela Shaw, “and almost never in someone who leads a sedentary life, what the Americans call a couch potato. Nearly everyone is physically active – sometimes professional athletes but also people who just do a lot of sport – the type of people who are described as always on the go, always buzzing about.
“So I’ve always been interested in trying to unravel that, and it’s tricky, because clearly most athletes don’t develop MND. We think it’s a combination of the genetic make-up of the person, and their lifestyle.”
Professor Dame Pam Shaw is the director of SITraN, the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience, which has become a key centre for research into Motor Neurone Disease. » | Jessamy Calkin | Saturday, January 24, 2026
Having always been given to the life of a couch potato and having always been resistant to, one could say allergic to, hyperactivity, too much exercise and/or gymnastics, and after reading this article, I am going to start thanking my lucky stars for my natural tendencies, proclivities, likes, and habits! 😊 — © Mark Alexander
