Remember the Ice Bucket Challenge? It raised awareness and money to help fund ALS research and was started by BC baseball player, Pete Frates. He since passed away from the neurodegenerative disease.

When the challenge came about 6 years ago many people were skeptical and critical about it. Some saw it as a social media act for attention.

Recently, it was reported that the challenge that got so many people talking raised over $220 million dollars. This money is going towards a new treatment that slows down the process of the disease. Great news!

Keep in mind that it is not a cure but a giant step in the right direction. This also proves that the power of crowd sourcing has its benefits.

 

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Research supported in part by the Ice Bucket challenge started by BC baseball player Pete Frates in 2014, has found experimental medication (combined sodium phenylbutyrate and tauroursodeoxycholic) may slow the progression of symptoms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS according to the New England Journal of Medicine. The drug is not a cure and doesn’t halt the disease, but it may help slow progression of symptoms of the disability that ALS causes—the inability to move, eat, speak and even breathe. Previously more than 50 clinical trials over 25 years have failed to find effective treatments for A.L.S., also called Lou Gehrig’s disease.

A post shared by Good News Movement (@goodnews_movement) on Sep 8, 2020 at 7:27am PDT

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