Bill Text: TX SR720 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Recognizing May 2023 as ALS Awareness month.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-05-28 - Reported enrolled [SR720 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SR720-Enrolled.html
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WHEREAS, The observance of ALS Awareness Month in May 2023 | ||
provides an opportunity to promote better understanding of | ||
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; and | ||
WHEREAS, A neurodegenerative condition, ALS was first | ||
identified by a French scientist in 1869, and the disease | ||
garnered international attention 70 years later, when it ended | ||
the career of beloved baseball player Lou Gehrig; often known as | ||
Lou Gehrig's disease, it is characterized by degeneration of cell | ||
bodies of the upper and lower motor neurons in the gray matter of | ||
the anterior horn of the spinal cord; and | ||
WHEREAS, Approximately 5,600 people in the United States | ||
are diagnosed with ALS each year, and some 15 Americans are | ||
diagnosed each day; in Texas, the ALS Association assisted more | ||
than 1,500 individuals during 2022, estimated at 41 percent of | ||
the state's ALS population; in addition, it benefited over 4,500 | ||
family caregivers and young relatives with its support groups and | ||
educational workshops; the association fights daily for people | ||
living with ALS, advocating for them, empowering them, and | ||
leading cutting-edge research to discover treatments and a cure; | ||
since 2020, it has loaned more than $6 million of medical | ||
equipment to Texans at no cost; it supports 13 multidisciplinary | ||
clinics across the state offering a variety of resources; and | ||
WHEREAS, During ALS Awareness Month 2023, the ALS | ||
Association is celebrating the commencement of construction on | ||
the $100 million Center for Brain Health at The University of | ||
Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio; the center will | ||
provide innovative, expert care of patients with ALS and other | ||
neurologic conditions and help advance research as a clinical | ||
trials facility; UT Health San Antonio's Neuromuscular Disorders | ||
Program is already an ALS Association-Certified Treatment Center | ||
of Excellence, and it is home to one of only 38 Muscular Dystrophy | ||
Association/ALS Research Centers in the country; and | ||
WHEREAS, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a serious and | ||
life-threatening disease, and the observance of ALS Awareness | ||
Month reaffirms our commitment to search for a cure and to | ||
enhance quality of life for patients; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 88th | ||
Legislature, hereby recognize May 2023 as ALS Awareness Month. | ||
Menéndez | ||
________________________________ | ||
President of the Senate | ||
I hereby certify that the | ||
above Resolution was adopted by | ||
the Senate on May 28, 2023. | ||
________________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
________________________________ | ||
Member, Texas Senate |