BEHIND THE ICE:
!
ALS
The worldwide trend
that started in March
and is still going…
H
aving started from over a year ago, the
ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has become a
worldwide phenomenon, with more that 2.4
million ice bucket related videos from around
the world. Being named one of the most
successful awareness and funding campaigns,
it has raised $100 million so far.
But looking beyond the ice bucket challenge,
what’s ALS?
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a disease that
progressively deteriorates the nervous system,
especially the neurons in the brain, which
eventually ends in premature death. The
ability of the brain to control muscles in the
body is lost as a result of the disease and
patients can become totally paralysed towards
the end.
The life expectancy of an ALS patient on
average is about two to five years from the
time they are diagnosed.
-
-
About 20 percent of people
diagnosed with ALS live five years
or more.
Up to 10 percent survive more than
ten years.
5 percent live up to 20 years,
although in some people the
disease has stopped progressing
and in a few it has actually reversed
entirely.
Most people who develop ALS are
between the ages of 40 and 70, occurring
in greater numbers of people as they grow
older.
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