Sucky nerve disease awareness

So a few weeks ago, this challenge started going around facebook and pinterest to raise awareness for ALS or  "Lou Gehrig's Disease." I have heard of this disease, but there really are so many sucky diseases out there, it's hard to keep them straight. And forget about remembering their names or pronunciations.  Well, ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed. Even if you don't know anyone affected by this desease, it's important to be a tiny part of the movement to at least raise awareness. If you can donate at least $5 to the cause at www.alsa.org.

Since we are on the subject of sucky diseases, I'd like to shine a light on another one, Leukodystrophy. This one also attacks the nerves by disrupting the growth or maintenance of the myelin sheath that insulates nerve cells. These disorders are progressive, meaning that they tend to get worse throughout the life of the patient. It is similar to MS. There are 40 different types of leukodystrophy:
http://ulf.org/types-of-leukodystrophy

There is the cutest family in my neighborhood, with 4 rediculously handsome little boys. 2 of their boys have this rare Vanishing White Matter disease. The motor difficulties of VWM are progressive, but the progression is often stepwise in association with fever or injuries. Prolonged periods of stability or even transient mild improvements lasting years are common. Most patients develop seizures (epilepsy) late in the illness that are easy to control. Life expectancy is reduced, though patients can live into their second or third decades.

September is Leukeodystrophy awareness month, perhaps awareness can be raised as it has been for ALS. The $6million would be helpfull, too ;) 

http://ulf.org/give-online-now

https://secure2.convio.net/alsa/site/Donation2;jsessionid=F445CAAD5F0BC3714ECF421ADD72DEC3.app296b?df_id=27420&27420.donation=form1

https://secure3.convio.net/nmss/site/Donation2;jsessionid=597E5B36F3B418A5CFA08D689D93E0CD.app322a?df_id=51176&51176.donation=form1