Posted: | February 1, 2017 10:22 AM |
---|---|
From: | Representative Daniel T. McNeill |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Resolution - Designating May 2017 as “Huntington’s Disease Awareness Month” in Pennsylvania |
In the near future, I plan to introduce a resolution designating May 2017 as “Huntington’s Disease Awareness Month” in Pennsylvania. Huntington’s disease is a fatal genetic disorder that causes the progressive breakdown of nerve cells in the brain leading to deterioration of a person’s physical and mental abilities. Symptoms of the disease usually appear in individuals between the ages of 30 to 50 and include personality changes, mood swings, depression, forgetfulness, impaired judgment, unsteady gait, involuntary movements, slurred speech, difficulty in swallowing, and significant weight loss. These symptoms worsen over a 10 to 25 year period, eventually making the person totally dependent upon others for his or her care. The Huntington’s Disease Society of America estimates there are approximately 30,000 Americans who are experiencing symptoms of the disease and more than 200,000 at-risk of inheriting the disease since every child of a parent with Huntington’s disease has a 50/50 chance of carrying the faulty gene. Please consider joining me in raising awareness and showing support to those afflicted as well as their families and caregivers by designating May 2017 as “Huntington’s Disease Awareness Month” in Pennsylvania. |
Introduced as HR271