ice bucket challenge

The Ice Bucket Challenge (English: ) is a fundraising campaign launched on social networks [1] to draw attention to people suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as "Also known as ALS"). [2] [3] Participants have to pour a bucket of ice water over their heads, and make a video of the process and upload it to social networks [1] .

A man is 'challenging an ice bucket'

ALS has been largely ignored in the past—even though famous physicist Stephen Hawking and former American baseball star Lou Gehrig (for whom the disease has long been named in the United States) are also ALS patients. The current campaign is primarily a fundraiser for the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Society of America . [4]

rule

Participants need to pour ice cubes and water from a bucket over their heads, and film the whole process and upload it to social networks. While completing the challenge, participants can name up to three people to follow suit; those named must choose one of accepting the “challenge” and donating $ 100 to charity , or both, within 24 hours . [1] In addition, the starting point for donations from accepted challengers can also be reduced from US$100 to US$10 [5] .

origin

This activity was first initiated by a cancer association in New Zealand . The original intention was to show care and support for cancer patients and their families through the act of "dripping ice water". Participants often film the clips and share them on social networking platforms. [6] In the first week of the event, more than NZ $ 20,000 has been raised , and [7] more than NZ$120,000 has been raised in more than a month. [8]

Another version states that the relevant behaviors are just derived from some soap opera behaviors, which have always been there. Later, this behavior was first proposed by the host of " Today " Matt Lauer on July 15 , 2014 on the show . Janet took up the challenge the next day and named Bert Quinn, who also suffers from ALS and currently plays for the Yankees, to participate. Quinn then called a gathering of relatives and friends on his network to participate, covering not only the community in Massachusetts to which Quinn belonged , but also as far as Ireland and Greece . [11]

Since Quinn accepted the challenge, he also donated money to the American Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association. [12] [13] At the same time, his middle school baseball teammate, Pete Frates, who also suffered from ALS and played for the Boston College baseball team, was included in his roll call list. . Felites also posted the clip on Twitter later , which made this activity attract more people's attention and participation [14] . Felites later died on December 9, 2019, at the age of 34. [15]

The Ice Bucket Challenge was originally limited to sharing on personal social networking platforms. However, the participation of some well-known figures in the United States, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates [16] , Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg [16] and a number of NBA stars, made this activity instantly popular and spread to the world.

As for the relevant ALS associations in various places, they also began to assist in publicity activities. Including the Association of Motor Neuron Disease Patients of the Republic of China in Taiwan (referred to as the Taiwan ALS Association) [17] and the Hong Kong Muscular Health Association in Hong Kong [18] . In mainland China, those who donate more will donate to the China Doll Rare Disease Care Center. The center mainly serves patients with osteogenesis imperfecta , but also serves other rare diseases such as ALS. [19] In the UK , in addition to the Motor Neurone Disease Association [20] and MND Scotland [21] , the Macmillan Cancer Support Center (Macmillan Cancer Support) also promoted fundraising with the Ice Bucket Challenge [22] .

positive comments

Soaring donations from recipient organizations

The most obvious success of the event is that charities supporting ALS patients around the world have received a large amount of donations in a very short period of time. According to the American ALS Association, in the four weeks from July 29, 2014 to August 26, this action has raised more than US$88.5 million in donations for the association, while the donations in the same period last year were only US$2.6 million, a difference of more than 34 times . [23] In Hong Kong, Liu Weiming, president of the Hong Kong Muscle Fitness Association, pointed out that after the event was officially promoted, the sum of donations for the whole of last year had been obtained within two or three days [24] [25] . According to the latest news published on the website on September 1, the number of donations has reached 25 million Hong Kong dollars . Based on the average annual donation of only 200,000 Hong Kong dollars, the average amount of donations equivalent to 125 years has been raised in more than two weeks[ 26 ] [ 27 ] .

In addition to the charity for ALS patients, two other charities were also indirectly benefited because some people chose not to name them and donated money directly to the other two charities. [29]

More people know about ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a rare disease for which no effective treatment has yet been found, and because the incidence is extremely low and the number of patients is small, it has been neglected for a long time. Pharmaceutical companies are also reluctant to carry out research and development because it is unprofitable. The ALS organization hopes that after this activity, more people will be able to understand and care about the needs of ALS patients, and it is also hoped that the public will continue to pay attention after the upsurge [30] .

dispute

health risk

Medical-related content on Wikipedia is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. For medical-related help or advice, please consult a professional. See medical statement for details .

Because the body and skin will feel the impact of a huge temperature difference in a very short time [31] , it will stimulate the blood vessels in the brain and cause an instantaneous increase in blood pressure [32] , resulting in sudden physical problems or discomfort. If a large bucket of ice water is suddenly poured on the body, there is a certain chance of causing cervical spine damage. In severe cases, it may cause intracranial hemorrhage, stroke, etc., and even death[32 ] . What's more, he even escalated the danger level, using liquid nitrogen instead of ice outside the molecular ice cream shop, and then pouring it on his head. [33] In addition, Chinese entrepreneur Chen Guangbiao , who has always been known for his high-profile "doing good deeds" , claimed that he had been immersed in ice water for 30 minutes, which resulted in negative comments and suspicions of fraud [34] . Chen admitted afterwards that it was indeed a fake, because there was 50°C hot water under the pile of ice cubes [35] .

In this regard, some cardiologists and professors of the Department of Physical Education reminded that before participating, one should measure whether the individual's physical condition can bear it. For example, people who have prostatitis, joint rheumatism, cervical spondylosis, hypertension, heart disease and other cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, or people with bronchial diseases such as pneumonia and bronchitis are not recommended to participate [ 32 ] . At the same time , this activity should not be performed after drinking alcoholic beverages [31] . The Auckland Cancer Society [8] and the Japanese ALS Association [36] also have the same health reminders on their web pages.

question

Because after the participants published their short videos on the Internet, they often added a message of "wouldn't it be shameless not to accept the challenge" [31] , and ended the video with a laughing response [37] . This type of film has been questioned because of participating in it with a mentality of "following the trend". [38] . There are opinions on the Internet that the feeling of advocating pouring ice water is completely different from that of patients with gradual freezing. They believe that this behavior cannot achieve the purpose of expressing concern for patients[39], and it is also an offense to patients, which is no different from a farce . [40] A Sichuan patient also lamented that he and his family were "entertained". [41] Relevant examples, such as BY2, a chorus group of Singaporean artists in Taiwan , were widely criticized for being suspected of performing on a hotel bed. [42]
As a popular activity, coupled with the publicity effect of celebrities, the Ice Bucket Challenge was imitated by people everywhere in a short time, but it also aroused some people's doubts [43] .

It is true that many participants donated some money after accepting the challenge, but this depends entirely on the integrity of the individual. As for whether some people refuse to buy it,[44] or whether a person should be named only once after being named many times, these details have also become another focus of discussion among some netizens . In this regard, the Hong Kong Muscle Fitness Association updated its website on August 20, 2014 with the words "Participation in the challenge is purely voluntary, everyone can use unlimited creativity, but please pay attention to the environment and safety"[18 ] . The president of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Joe Sung, also explained what ALS is and how it affects patients in his short video for more than 1 minute [45] . Chen Zhiquan [46] , Takeshi Kaneshiro [47] and Liu Junjiang [48] and others explained the background information of ALS in their respective films. Among them, Liu Junjiang specifically mentioned a video, which was shot by an American photographer , Anthony Carbajal. His mother and grandmother are both ALS patients, and he was diagnosed with ALS in January 2014. The current condition has affected his work as a photographer. Therefore, when he accepts the challenge, he also expresses his family medical history and his sadness at the refusal of pharmaceutical companies to make medicines for ALS patients, and thanks to all those who participated in this fundraising. [49] [50]

At the same time, some people also asked for alternative forms to replace the ice bucket challenge. For example, in Taiwan, Yuan Pengwei, a patient with gradual freezing who was an engineer, learned that the pianist Lang Lang had not yet accepted Andy Lau’s ice bucket challenge, so he wrote an open letter to Liu, inviting Lang Lang to his hospital to replace the ice bucket challenge with a piano performance . On August 26, 2014, Lang Lang, who was touring in Europe, officially responded, promising that when the world tour arrives in Taiwan at the end of the year, he will visit Yuan Pengwei and his wife. [53]

political propaganda

Lian Shengwen and Ke Wenzhe , two candidates for mayor of Taipei , coincidentally performed the ice bucket challenge in public on August 18. At the same time, they also expressed their concern for patients with ALS and their election promises [54] . After completing the challenge, both of them donated money to the Taiwan ALS Association. The secretary-general of the association, Lin Yunru, expressed his gratitude for their donation; but at the same time, he also called on them to continue to take action to support the local ALS people, and to fulfill their commitments[55 ] .

waste of water

As the event was being held, California in the United States was just facing an unusually dry weather, and some local officials criticized the event for wasting drinking water [56] . In Lushan County , Henan Province , due to the drought, residents in some areas of Pingdingshan experienced water shortages. Local people gathered in front of the Central Plains Giant Buddha with buckets to protest that other places in China followed suit by playing with ice buckets [57] . In Hong Kong, some environmental organizations bluntly stated that the activities inevitably lead to the suspicion of wasting food and water [31] . Artist Ou Jintang even posted some photos of children in the third world drinking clean water on his Facebook , expressing that drinking water is too easy to come by and encouraging everyone to waste drinking water in disguise. [58] Liang Zuyao also wrote an article to reprimand [59] , but the article was quickly deleted and replaced with a message "The following are 10 ways to experience the life of ALS people without wasting ice and water" [60 ] . As it was accused that many people went to convenience stores to buy ice cubes for activities, resulting in a shortage of ice cubes and indirectly contributing to the waste of water resources, the 7-11 convenience store in Hong Kong then announced on Facebook that until August 31, every time a customer buys a pack of ice cubes, they will donate HK$5 to the Hong Kong Muscle Fitness Association. [61] [24]

In some places, alternative methods are used instead of ice water. A Palestinian reporter decided to use rubble barrels to challenge because of the extreme heat and drought in the local area, and the war in Gaza , hoping that the world will also pay attention to this battle with empathy. [62] In India, also because of the drought, many local celebrities also declined the event, or accepted the challenge with rice grains instead of ice buckets, but donated a bucket of rice afterward; some people also called for "filling up the plastic bucket" to send food and relief supplies to Nepal, which is suffering from floods and landslides. [ 63 ] The NBA's 2014 rookie prospect Zur Abent also expressed his hope on Twitter that people from all walks of life should pay more attention to the sufferings of African people. [64]