Do you remember the viral phenomenon that was sweeping the world back in 2014 called the Ice Bucket Challenge? Ice cold water was tipped over the heads of wiling volunteers in order to raise awareness and money for research into a cure for Motor Neurone Disease or MND. We are proud to say that we also took part in the ice bucket challenge and are also pleased to say that our combined efforts have made a breakthrough in the journey to find a cure.
MND Gene Breakthrough
We at Colin Batt Removals, as did everyone else, took the ice bucket challenge to raise money to find a cure for Motor Neurone Disease. Motor Neurone Disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal and rapidly progressive degenerative disease that affects the spinal cord and brain. The good news is that the research funded by the challenge has identified a new gene that contributes to the disease.
Worldwide Phenomenon
Millions of people took part in the challenge. 17 million people uploaded videos of the Ice Bucket Challenge to Facebook and those videos were watched by 440 million people. $115 million was raised worldwide, an amazing achievement which was all down to the generosity and good will of people from all around the globe. It is quite amazing to feel we were a very small part in a worldwide phenomenon that has touched so many lives.
Some people viewed the Ice Bucket Challenge as a stunt but the money from the challenge has funded six separate research projects. This research has made a break through that could eventually lead to a cure. A gene, NEK 1, has been found to contribute to inherited cases of MND. Scientists are now working on a gene therapy to treat this debilitating disease.
Time for A Cure for MND
Unfortunately, Motor Neurone Disease kills around a third of all people within a year of diagnosis and over half in 2 years. Something needs to be done and a cure cannot be found quick enough for all the people affected by the disease. We hope that our small actions combined with those of the rest of the word will make a difference and move us forward in our fight against Motor Neurone Disease.
Well done to all who took part in and generously donated to the Ice Bucket Challenge. Learn more about the disease and the fight for a cure at these two sites https://www.mndassociation.org https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/jul/27/how-the-ice-bucket-challenge-led-to-an-als-research-breakthrough