What is ALS?

Amyotrophic Lateral Scelerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a non-contagious progressive neurodegenerative disease that affect nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the muscles via the spinal cord throughout the body. The degenerations of these motor neurons will cause loss of mobility, changes or complete loss of speech, and eventually the ability to breathe, leading to death. This is because when the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to send information and control muscle movement is lost. In addition, patients in the later stages of the disease may experience complete paralysis since the voluntary muscle actions are progressively affected by ALS.

While 10 percent cases of ALS are hereditary, where  those who are affected possess a particular gene that leads to Lou Gehrig's disease, the director of the research at the ALS Society of Canada, Dr. David Taylor stated that ALS can affect everyone. In fact, the prognosis of ALS has yet to be determined by the researchers. It is reported that some 80 percent of people with ALS die within two to five years of diagnosis. Worst of all, there is no cure and treatment for ALS to date.



How does ALS Ice Bucket Challenge came about?

The #IceBucketChallenge was actually initiated by Pete Frates, a 29 years old former center fielder and captain for the Boston College baseball team who was diagnosed with ALS. The #ALSIceBucketChallenge involves people getting poured with a bucket of ice water on video, posting that video to social media, and then nominating three other person to do the same thing. For those who refuse to take the challenge, they are required to make a donation (USD$100) to the ALS charity of their choice. The challenge is an event to raise money and awareness of ALS.

Numerous celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Martha Stewart, Bill Gates, Tim Cook, Lady Gaga, Mark Zuckerberg, just to name a few, have taken part in the challenge. With the rising attention and viral trend, the ALS Association has managed to receive astonishing amounts of donations compared to previous years.

For more information or to make a donation, visit www.alsa.org . Below are some videos of the celebrities that have done the #ALSIceBucketChallenge ! Feel free to leave comments below. Till then, au revoir! :)

Robert Downey Junior


Bill Gates


Oprah Winfrey
 

Steven Spielberg


Martha Stewart


Dwyane "The Rock" Johnson


Justin Bieber


Taylor Swift


Tim Cook


Lady Gaga


Mark Zuckerberg


Jimmy Fallon


Conan


Paul Bisonnette


Triple H