Senate Resolution No. 992

BY: Senator HINCHEY

MEMORIALIZING Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim
September 24-October 1, 2023, 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 24-October 1,
2023, 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 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 24-October 1,
2023, 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.