Joost diagnosed with debilitating disease.

[Bertie Horak]

I've never been a big Joost van der Westhuizen fan, but still feel very sorry for the guy.
He's been diagnosed with a debilitating disease. As far as I can gather, it is "Motor Neuron Disease/Syndrome".  This is not a good prognosis. As far as I know, there's upper and lower motor neuron disease - in his case it looks like upper - his tongue and arm is already affected. 
The nerve connections between the brain and the muscles die off, making the muscles useless.  Unfortunately this may eventually affect the breathing muscles as well - can you imagine? Struggling to breathe or move, but your brain function is completely normal and you know what's happening around you, but cant do anything about it?
I had a patient in Kuilsriver who came to me with a main complaint of too much saliva in her mouth. Such a simple complaint, one might think. But I referred her to a neurologist because everything didn't look ok when I did some simple tests to see how her cranial nerves were functioning. She was diagnosed with Upper Motor Neuron Disease and I'm sorry to say, she passed away just about a year later.
I certainly hope Joost has a different (treatable) condition - for the prognosis of Motor Neuron Disease is not good at all.

[SandyB]

I have an ex colleague  that was diagnosed  many years ago --  been boarded    for the last 3 years or so  .. luckily his progression has been slow up till now  .. He has retained a positive  fighting attitude over the  entire period  stating  when he told us all  the diagnosis   that he knows its a " life ending disease "  . but yes  now  the withering  is progressing   rapidly   its not good to see ..

[Diana Rudd (Boehme)]

I am very familiar with M.N.D.  A friend of mine fought this disease for 5years and has since sadly passed away. I had daily contact with her during this time and have seen how this terrible, terrible disease slowly takes over. As Bertie has said the mind is functioning normaly as the muscles die off. Bearing in mind that the heart is also a muscle.

[Michael Alexander]

Scary Stuff this:

"Most cases of MND progress quite quickly, with noticeable decline occurring over the course of months. Although symptoms may present in one region, they will typically spread. If restricted to one side of the body they are more likely to progress to the same region on the other side of the body before progressing to a new region. After several years, most patients require help to carry out activities of daily living such as self care, feeding, and transportation.

MND is typically fatal within 2–5 years. Around 50% die within 14 months of diagnosis. The remaining 50% will not necessarily die within the next 14 months as the distribution is significantly skewed. As a rough estimate, 1 in 5 patients survive for 5 years, and 1 in 10 patients survive 10 years.[citation needed] Professor Stephen Hawking is a well-known example of a person with MND, and has lived for nearly 50 years with the disease. The television film Hawking starring Benedict Cumberbatch was made in 2004 about him and this disease.

Mortality normally results when control of the diaphragm is impaired and the ability to breathe is lost. One exception is Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS), which may last for upwards of 25 years. Given the typical age of onset, this effectively leaves most PLS patients with a normal life span. PLS can progress to ALS, decades later."