Senate Resolution No. 2497
BY: Senator HINCHEY
MEMORIALIZING Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim
September 25-October 2, 2022, 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 25-October 2,
2022, 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 five to 15 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 more than 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 25-October 2,
2022, 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.
