Give a person an opportunity for a photo and it’s on for young and old! Celebrities, industry and professional leaders, KOLs , politicians current and has-been’s……the list is endless.

Let’s stop pretending that pouring ice on ourselves means anything until we can acknowledge the research that some of the causes and cures for motor neurone disease exist.

The perpetual concept of “fighting” idiopathic disease (a fancy name for a disease with no known cause) has become the most successful cause-marketing strategy of our time, with billions of dollars raised without appreciable yield, for the ultimate outcome of saving lives.

For organizations that explicitly confess their ignorance about causes or cures of diseases they presumably intend to overcome, co-opting the good intentions of the mainstream with viral social media campaigns has become the flavour of the day.

Here are some of the actual causes of motor neurone disease:

• Lead exposure can contribute to the aetiology of motor neurone disease. Obviously reduced and/or eliminated exposure, then detoxification is a solution.
• High brain- and body-toxic chemicals contribute to many neurodegenerative conditions.
• Of the 300+ adverse health effects linked to statin drugs, neurotoxicity is on the list.
• Cigarette smoking linked to radioactive polonium 210 is a known risk factor
• Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is linked to the pathogenesis of motor neurone disease.

Why aren’t these causes acknowledged, and associated public health messages released?
If a smoker knew of an increased risk of motor neurone disease, would that help with nicotine cessation?

Might there be better mileage in addressing the known risk factors instead of directing millions of dollars into drug interventions with unknown outcomes?