The British neurologist Russell Brain coined the term motor neurone disease in 1933 to reflect his belief that ALS, progressive bulbar palsy, and progressive muscular atrophy were all different forms of the same disease, neurone being a historically incorrect form of neuron. In some countries, especially the United States, ALS is called Lou Gehrigs disease after the American baseball player Lou Gehrig who developed ALS in 1938.In the United States and continental Europe, the term ALS (as well as Lou Gehrigs disease in the US) refers to all forms of the disease, including "classical" ALS, progressive bulbar palsy, progressive muscular atrophy, and primary lateral sclerosis. In the United Kingdom and Australia, the term motor neurone disease refers to all forms of the disease while ALS only refers to "classical" ALS, meaning the form with both upper and lower motor neuron involvement. Society and culture
In August 2014, a challenge went viral online, commonly known as the "ALS Ice Bucket Challenge". Contestants fill a bucket full of ice and water, then state who nominated them to do the challenge, and nominate three other individuals of their choice to take part in it. The contestants then dump the buckets of ice and water onto themselves. However, it can be done in a different order. The contestants then donate at least US$10 (or a similar amount in their local currency) to ALS research at the ALS Association, the ALS Therapy Development Institute, ALS Society of Canada or Motor Neurone Disease Association in the UK.
Men have a higher risk mainly because spinal-onset ALS is more common in men than women. The number of those with ALS in the United States in 2015 was 5.2 people per 100,000, and was higher in whites, males, and people over 60 years old. The number of new cases is about 0.8 people per 100,000 per year in east Asia and about 0.7 people per 100,000 per year in south Asia. About 80% of ALS epidemiology studies have been conducted in Europe and the United States, mostly in people of northern European descent. There is not enough information to determine the rates of ALS in much of the world, including Africa, parts of Asia, India, Russia, and South America. There are several geographic clusters in the Western Pacific where the prevalence of ALS was reported to be 50–100 times higher than the rest of the world, including Guam, the Kii Peninsula of Japan, and Western New Guinea. The incidence in these areas has decreased since the 1960s; the cause remains unknown.People of all races and ethnic backgrounds may be affected by ALS, but it is more common in whites than in Africans, Asians, or Hispanics. In the United States in 2015, the prevalence of ALS in whites was 5.4 people per 100,000, while the prevalence in blacks was 2.3 people per 100,000. The Midwest had the highest prevalence of the four US Census regions with 5.5 people per 100,000, followed by the Northeast (5.1), the South (4.7), and the West (4.4).