The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is all the
rage right now but I doubt many people who are now doing it know
exactly what it is or even what they are even doing the challenge
for. Like most things that are the rage, like that Harlem Shake stuff
that happened a while back, people see it and want to tape themselves
doing it for views, not the cause. I've always known ALS as Lou
Gehrig's Disease. Here's a description of what ALS is and how it
effects people.
“Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS),
often referred to as 'Lou Gehrig's Disease,' is a progressive
neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and
the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal
cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The
progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads
to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain
to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary
muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of
the disease may become totally paralyzed.” Source ALSA.org.
