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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, The observance of ALS Awareness Month in May |
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provides an opportunity to educate the public about Amyotrophic |
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Lateral Sclerosis, often known as Lou Gehrig's disease; and |
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WHEREAS, A fatal neurodegenerative disease, ALS was first |
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identified by a French scientist in 1869, but international |
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attention came 70 years later, when the disease ended the career of |
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beloved baseball player Lou Gehrig; ALS affects nerve cells in the |
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brain and spinal cord, and it causes the progressive degeneration |
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of the motor neurons that reach from the brain to the spinal cord |
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and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body; and |
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WHEREAS, The onset of ALS is insidious, with the affliction |
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manifesting itself as muscle weakness or stiffness; as it |
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progresses, the disease causes wasting and paralysis of the muscles |
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of the limbs and trunk, as well as of the muscles that control vital |
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functions such as speech, swallowing, and breathing; patients in |
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the later stages of the disease may become completely paralyzed; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Approximately 5,600 people in the United States are |
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diagnosed with ALS each year; although life expectancy averages |
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about two to five years from diagnosis, this disease is variable, |
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and some people survive longer while retaining quality of life; |
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according to the ALS Association, about 20 percent of individuals |
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with ALS live 5 years or more, and 5 percent will live for 20 years; |
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there are those in whom ALS has stopped progressing, and symptoms |
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have reversed in a small number of patients; and |
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WHEREAS, Congress recently increased funding for two crucial |
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projects, the ALS Research Program at the U.S. Department of |
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Defense and the National ALS Registry, administered by the federal |
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the tireless efforts of |
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advocates have played a crucial role in expanding resources to |
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investigate potential causes of ALS and to search for a cure, giving |
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new hope to patients and their families; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 84th Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby recognize May 2015 as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Month |
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and urge all Texans to support efforts to find a cure for ALS. |