HR 316 — A Resolution recognizing the week of September 21 through 28, 2025, as "Frontotemporal Degeneration Awareness Week" in Pennsylvania.

PRINTER'S NO.   2311

                  THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



           HOUSE RESOLUTION
              No. 316
                                                 Session of
                                                   2025

     INTRODUCED BY MOUL, COOK, FREEMAN, VENKAT, RIVERA, WAXMAN,
        NEILSON, HEFFLEY, CAUSER, FEE, ROWE, FLICK AND GALLAGHER,
        SEPTEMBER 11, 2025

     REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, SEPTEMBER 15, 2025


                                  A RESOLUTION
 1   Recognizing the week of September 21 through 28, 2025, as
 2      "Frontotemporal Degeneration Awareness Week" in Pennsylvania.
 3      WHEREAS, Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD) is identified in
 4   the National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease as a related
 5   dementia and included as a priority in the goals and strategies
 6   to achieve the vision of a nation free of Alzheimer's disease
 7   and related dementias; and
 8      WHEREAS, FTD is referenced in the Pennsylvania State Plan for
 9   Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders, which contains
10   recommendations to define a response to the current and
11   anticipated growth of the number of Pennsylvanians living with
12   Alzheimer's Disease and related disorders; and
13      WHEREAS, The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration
14   reports that FTD is a terminal and incurable neurodegenerative
15   disease affecting the frontal and temporal lobes, causing
16   impairments to speech, personality, behavior and motor skills
17   which constitutes a major public health concern; and
 1      WHEREAS, It takes an average of 3.6 years from start of
 2   symptoms to get an accurate diagnosis of FTD with average life
 3   expectancy of 7 to 13 years after start of symptoms; and
 4      WHEREAS, FTD strikes people as young as 17 years of age and
 5   as old as 87 years of age with the largest percentage of those
 6   affected being in their 40s to 60s, rendering people in the
 7   prime of life unable to work or function normally; and
 8      WHEREAS, FTD represents an estimated 5% to 15% of all
 9   dementia cases and is the most common form of dementia for
10   people under 60 years of age; and
11      WHEREAS, FTD is often misdiagnosed as a psychiatric problem
12   or other neurodegenerative disease because of the wide range of
13   cognitive and behavioral symptoms and their young onset; and
14      WHEREAS, FTD imposes average annual costs associated with
15   care and living with the disease that are approximately double
16   those of Alzheimer's disease; and
17      WHEREAS, FTD often affects a person's ability to express
18   emotions and to show affection and empathy for loved ones; and
19      WHEREAS, In the behavioral variant of FTD, a person's sense
20   of social graces and appropriate behavior can be lost, and their
21   personality may be significantly changed; and
22      WHEREAS, In the language variants of FTD, primary progressive
23   aphasia, a person may have trouble producing speech and
24   understanding grammar, lose the meaning of words or become
25   hesitant in their speech, and may eventually become mute; and
26      WHEREAS, In the movement variants of FTD, a person may
27   experience muscle weakness, falling, loss of balance, difficulty
28   making speech and difficulty swallowing or choking; and
29      WHEREAS, While there has never been a global epidemiology
30   study of FTD, it is estimated that more than 60,000 people are

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 1   affected in the United States today; and
 2         WHEREAS, The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration is
 3   the leading national organization exclusively focused on the
 4   spectrum of FTD disorders with a mission to improve the quality
 5   of life of people affected by FTD and drive research to a cure;
 6   and
 7         WHEREAS, It is imperative that there be greater awareness of
 8   this serious disease and more must be done to increase activity
 9   at the national, State and local levels; therefore be it
10         RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives recognize the
11   week of September 21 through 28, 2025, as "Frontotemporal
12   Degeneration Awareness Week" in Pennsylvania.




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