Many of you have done the Ice Bucket Challenge to bring awareness to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. I have been tagged/challenged a few times and have not completed the challenge as I was conflicted with the message coming across as shallow but at the same time realizing how much this has done to raise funds for research for the disease. Additionally with the current events in MO around the death of Michael Brown, my energy has been on civil justice. That being said last week I made this video in response to the challenge. It is me performing a simple task that we take for granted everyday. Many people who have ALS will lose there ability to do simple self care tasks as they progress in the disease. Often their mind is still keenly operating but their ability to communicate diminishes as the disease takes hold. Many hours I spent caring for one of the most amazing women in my life who suffered from this disease. It is a real, heartbreaking disease often misdiagnosed as Parkinsons. My friend Erin Murphy (HAPPY BIRTHDAY Erin!) recently posted the following summary about ALS, and I give the following copy full credit to her! Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, is a nervous system disease that causes muscle weakness and impacts physical function. ALS is often called Lou Gehrigs disease, after the famous baseball player who was diagnosed with it. ALS is a type of motor neuron disease that causes nerve cells to gradually break down and die. In most cases, doctors dont know why ALS occurs. A small number of cases are inherited. ALS often begins with muscle twitching and weakness in an arm or leg, or sometimes with slurring of speech. Eventually, ALS can affect your ability to control the muscles needed to move, speak, eat and breathe. ALS cant be cured and eventually leads to death. #icebucketchallenge #ALS #Lougehrigs
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 14:13:47 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015