The Hot Reason Behind the Ice Bucket Challenge

For the past month, the “Ice Bucket Challenge” has dominated Facebook and other social media platforms. For those of you not familiar with it, the Ice Bucket Challenge consists of individuals recording a video of a bucket of ice water being dumped on their heads in order to raise awareness of ALS. The person then challenges other individuals to either take the challenge or donate money to the ALS Association.

But what is ALS? ALS stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig‘s disease. It is a disease that affects the motor neurons, reaching from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. As motor neurons degenerate and die, they can no longer send impulses to the muscle fibers that normally result in muscle movement. This means the brain’s ability to control voluntary muscle movement is affected. Early symptoms of ALS often include increasing muscle weakness especially involving the arms and legs, speech, swallowing or breathing. As the disease progresses, voluntary muscle action is lost and patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.

Currently, there is no cure for ALS and only one FDA approved drug to slow its progression. This is why the more than $40 million raised by the Ice Bucket Challenge is a good thing. The money will be used by the ALS Association to help enhance the quality of life of people affected by ALS and support research for new treatments and a cure.

So if the DC area’s heat gets to be too much, you can always cool off by completing the Ice Bucket Challenge and supporting a good cause.