Bill Text: GA HR1711 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Awareness Day; March 7, 2012; recognize
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 3-1)
Status: (Passed) 2012-03-05 - House Read and Adopted [HR1711 Detail]
Download: Georgia-2011-HR1711-Introduced.html
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93 1071
House
Resolution 1711
By:
Representatives Dudgeon of the
24th,
Cooper of the
41st,
Gardner of the
57th,
and Harden of the
28th
A
RESOLUTION
Recognizing
March 7, 2012, as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Awareness Day at the capitol;
and for other purposes.
WHEREAS,
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is better known as Lou Gehrig's disease and
is a fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by the degeneration of cell
bodies of the lower motor neurons in the gray matter of the anterior horns of
the spinal cord; and
WHEREAS,
the initial symptom of ALS is weakness of the skeletal muscles, especially those
of the extremities, and as ALS progresses, the patient experiences difficulty in
swallowing, talking, and breathing; and
WHEREAS,
ALS eventually causes muscles to atrophy, and the patient becomes a functional
quadriplegic; and
WHEREAS,
ALS does not affect a patient's mental capacity, so the patient remains alert
and aware of his or her loss of motor functions and the inevitable outcome of
continued deterioration and death; and
WHEREAS,
ALS has no known cause, means of prevention, or cure, and on average, patients
diagnosed with ALS only survive two to five years from the time of diagnosis;
and
WHEREAS,
research indicates that military veterans are at a 50 percent or greater risk of
developing ALS than those who have not served in the military; and
WHEREAS,
the Department of Veterans Affairs implemented regulations to establish a
presumption of service connection for ALS, thereby presuming that the
development of ALS was incurred or aggravated by a veteran's service in the
military; and
WHEREAS,
a national ALS patient registry, administered by the Centers for Disease
Control, is currently identifying cases of ALS in the United States and may
become the single largest ALS research project ever created; and
WHEREAS,
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Awareness Day increases the public's awareness of
ALS patients' circumstances and acknowledges the terrible impact this disease
has not only on the patient but on his or her family and the community and
recognizes the research being done to eradicate this horrible
disease.
NOW,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that the members of
this body recognize March 7, 2012, as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Awareness
Day at the capitol.
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized
and directed to transmit appropriate copies of this resolution to each member of
the Georgia congressional delegation.
