Florida Senate - 2009                            (NP)    SR 2720
       
       
       
       By Senator Ring
       
       
       
       
       32-02358-09                                           20092720__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing May 2009 as “Amyotrophic
    3         Lateral Sclerosis Awareness Month” in the State of
    4         Florida.
    5  
    6         WHEREAS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), better known
    7  as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative
    8  disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord,
    9  and
   10         WHEREAS, the early symptoms of ALS include weakness of the
   11  skeletal muscles, especially involving the arms and legs, and
   12  difficulty in swallowing, talking, and breathing, and
   13         WHEREAS, ALS eventually causes muscles to atrophy,
   14  eventually leading to functional quadriplegia, and
   15         WHEREAS, ALS does not affect an individual’s mental
   16  capacity, which means that a person with ALS remains alert and
   17  aware of his or her loss of motor functions and the
   18  inevitability of continued deterioration and death, and
   19         WHEREAS, on average, a patient diagnosed as having ALS
   20  survives only 2 to 5 years after the initial diagnosis, and
   21         WHEREAS, research indicates that military veterans are at
   22  least 50 percent more likely to develop ALS than those who have
   23  not served in the military, and
   24         WHEREAS, ALS has no known cause, means of prevention, or
   25  cure, and
   26         WHEREAS, the recognition of “Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
   27  Awareness Month” will increase awareness regarding the
   28  circumstances of ALS patients and the terrible impact of this
   29  disease not only on the person who has ALS, but on his or her
   30  family and the larger community, and will lend support to the
   31  goals of biomedical research on ALS, which are to find the cause
   32  or causes of ALS, understand the mechanisms involved in the
   33  progression of the disease, and to develop effective treatment,
   34  NOW, THEREFORE,
   35  
   36  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   37  
   38         That May 2009 is recognized as “Amyotrophic Lateral
   39  Sclerosis Awareness Month” in the State of Florida.