Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is the umbrella term used in the US to describe what we in the UK call Motor Neurone Disease. A motor neuron is a nerve cell that makes voluntary muscle movements. MND is a disease in which these cells stop working properly. Motor neurone disease (MND) affects a person’s ability to move voluntarily. MND stops people eating, walking and talking, for example, but doesn’t stop them from thinking or feeling, effectively leaving sufferers ‘locked in’ to their bodies. There is no known cure at the moment.