Hi My Boyfriend Twitches At Night It’s Only Ever At

Posted on Mon, 22 Oct 2018

Question: Hi my boyfriend twitches at night it’s only ever at night. The doctors have put it down to stress. But I get very paranoid and worried that he is going to get MND. How rare is this diease. And because he twitches is he more likely to get it. I know you can’t tell me that he will never get it’s but what are the chances that he would ever get it. I would just like some reassurance please if you can help me I would be very grateful. The twitching has been going on since last year he has no weekness or anyother symptoms. And he only twitches at night thankyou

Answered by Dr. Dr. Yogesh D (5 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Calm down, benign fasciculations are quite common.

Detailed Answer:
Hello Ms XXXXXXX

Welcome to Ask A Doctor service. I have read through your description and understand your concern for your boyfriend.

Please calm down, your boyfriend is highly unlikely to get MND, here is why..

1. He has been examined and investigated by qualified doctors who would have ruled out any possibility of MND through their examination and investigations.

2. There is no change in the muscle strength through this one year of him having these twitches. There is no way that MND would not progress over one full year.

3. MND is not very common, and usually affects very late in life.

4. Twitches are present only during the night, there is no variant of MND that presents with twitches only during the nights.

So, XXXXXXX please relax and live a happy and fulfilling life. There is nothing to be worried.

Wishing you good health.

Best regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Yogesh D (17 hours later)

So how rare is this diease could you give me some numbers that might make me feel better about things. Like realistically the chances of him ever developing it is it extremely unlikely. Should I not worry. Coz the likelyhood is that he will never get it thankyou

Answered by Dr. Dr. Yogesh D (19 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Cumulative life time risk is about 1 in 490, same as for anyone else.

Detailed Answer:
Hello Ms XXXXXXX

Thank you again for writing to me.

The chances of your boyfriend ever getting MND is same as it is for anyone else like you and me.

There is absolutely no greater risk for him.

There is nothing to be worried about as such.

Hope you will find this information useful.

Best wishes

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Yogesh D (13 hours later)

What’s a cumulative life risk of 1 in 490 is that quite rare then

Answered by Dr. Dr. Yogesh D (11 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Cumulative risk is the chance of getting something over the entire life.

Detailed Answer:
Hello dear XXXXXXX

Cumulative lifetime risk means the chance of suffering from a disease over the period of one's full life.

Your boyfriend has the same risk as you and me.

He does not have any more chance of getting MND than anyone else.

I hope this settles it.

Best wishes

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D