Bill Text: NY J02122 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Memorializing Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim September 22-29, 2024, as Frontotemporal Degeneration Awareness Week in the State of New York

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2024-04-09 - ADOPTED [J02122 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-J02122-Introduced.html

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Senate Resolution No. 2122

BY: Senator HINCHEY

        MEMORIALIZING  Governor  Kathy  Hochul to proclaim
        September    22-29,    2024,    as    Frontotemporal
        Degeneration Awareness Week in the State of New York

  WHEREAS,  It  is  the  custom  of this Legislative Body to recognize
official weeks that are set  aside  to  increase  awareness  of  serious
health  conditions  that affect the lives of citizens of New York State;
and

  WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern  and  in  full  accord  with  its
long-standing  traditions,  it  is the sense of this Legislative Body to
memorialize Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim September 22-29, 2024,  as
Frontotemporal  Degeneration Awareness Week in the State of New York, in
conjunction with the observance of World FTD Awareness Week; and

  WHEREAS,  Frontotemporal  Degeneration  (FTD)  is  a  terminal   and
incurable brain disease affecting the frontal and temporal lobes causing
impairments to speech, personality, behavior and motor skills; and

  WHEREAS,  FTD  usually strikes people in their 40s to 60s, rendering
people in the prime of life unable to work or function normally; and

  WHEREAS, FTD represents an estimated 10-20 percent of  all  dementia
cases  and  is the most common form of dementia for people under the age
of 60; and

  WHEREAS, FTD is often misdiagnosed as a psychiatric problem or other
neurodegenerative disease because of the wide  range  of  cognitive  and
behavioral symptoms and their young onset; and

  WHEREAS,  FTD  imposes average annual costs associated with care and
living  with  the  disease  that  are  approximately  double  those   of
Alzheimer's disease; and

  WHEREAS,  FTD  often  affects a person's ability to express emotions
show affection and empathy for loved ones; and

  WHEREAS, In the behavioral variant  of  FTD,  a  person's  sense  of
social   graces   and  appropriate  behavior  can  be  lost,  and  their
personality may be significantly changed; and

  WHEREAS, Furthermore, in  the  language  variants  of  FTD  (primary
progressive  aphasia),  a  person  may have trouble producing speech and
understanding grammar, lose the meaning of words or become  hesitant  in
their speech and may eventually become mute; and

  WHEREAS,  In  the  movement variants of FTD, a person may experience
muscle weakness, falling, loss of  balance,  difficulty  making  speech,
difficulty swallowing, and/or choking; and

  WHEREAS,  While  there has never been a global epidemiology study of
FTD, it is estimated that between 50,000 and 60,000 people are  affected
in the United States today; and


  WHEREAS,  It  is  imperative that there be greater awareness of this
serious disease, and more must be  done  to  increase  activity  at  the
local, State and National levels; now, therefore, be it

  RESOLVED,  That  this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
memorialize Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim September 22-29, 2024,  as
Frontotemporal Degeneration Awareness Week in the State of New York; and
be it further

  RESOLVED,  That  a  copy  of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to The Honorable Kathy Hochul, Governor of the State of  New
York.