Nicholas Kristof writes in his post, Payday for Ice Bucket Challenge’s Mocked Slacktivists, that they “now have evidence that the ice bucket challenge may have actually worked,” (Kristof, 2015). By raising awareness of ALS, more people now know about it and have raised a lot of money for research. The money raised from donations has let scientists focus their research “on a protein called TDP-43 that is sometimes linked to cell death in the brain or spinal cord of patients. The scientists found that inserting a custom-designed protein allowed cells to return to normal,” (Kristof, 2015). Not only could this help ALS patients, but also those with other ailments. Using this new research, they can start therapy for ALS.
Also, many people had never heard of ALS before this new challenge arose. People started looking up what it was and donating to help. Without this Ice Bucket challenge, they would have never known what it was. In my opinion, Nicholas Kristof’s view of the Ice Bucket Challenge was right because it did help to raise money and awareness.
-Julie
Citations:
About ALS. (2015). Retrieved October 12, 2015, from ALS Association: http://www.alsa.org/about-als/
Davidson, J. (2014, August 13). We Need To Do Better Than the Ice Bucket Challenge. Retrieved Ocober 12, 2015, from TIME.
Kristof, N. (2015, September 3). Payday for Ice Bucket Challenge's Mocked Slacktivists. Retrieved October 12, 2015, from The New York Times.