BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                      



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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  SCR 43
          Author:   Strickland (R)
          Amended:  As introduced
          Vote:     21

           
           SUBJECT  :    Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This resolution declares August 2011, and each 
          August thereafter, as Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness 
          Month.

           ANALYSIS  :    This resolution makes the following 
          legislative findings:

          1. Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) kills more children than 
             any other genetic disease.
           
          2. SMA causes degeneration in voluntary muscle movement for 
             those impacted by the disease, eventually impacting the 
             ability to walk, sit, crawl, stand, breathe, eat, and 
             even swallow.
           
          3. One in every 40 people, or nearly 10 million Americans, 
             unknowingly carries the gene responsible for SMA.  Few 
             have any known family history.

          4. SMA is a pan-ethnic disease that does not discriminate 
             based on race, ethnicity, or gender.
           
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          5. SMA does not impact the mind.  Children with SMA are 
             bright, sensitive, and playful in spite of their failing 
             bodies.
           
          6. Most children impacted by SMA succumb to the disease 
             before their second birthday.

          7. There is currently no treatment and no cure for SMA, but 
             the National Institutes of Health (NIH) selected SMA as 
             the disease closest to treatment of more than 600 
             neurological disorders.
           
          8. The nation's leading researchers signed a statement 
             stressing that, with adequate resources, a viable 
             treatment or cure is attainable in as little as five 
             years.
           
          9. SMA research is considered a "model" approach, with the 
             potential of benefiting millions of people impacted by 
             other diseases, including ALS/Lou Gehrig's disease, 
             Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, 
             Fragile X, and Tay Sachs, among others.
           
          10.Increased awareness of SMA will lead to increased 
             knowledge and increased support for both disease 
             research and families affected by the disease, hopefully 
             leading to a cure. 

          11.August has been declared as National Spinal Muscular 
             Atrophy Awareness Month in order to raise awareness and 
             help promote research into this devastating disease.

          This resolution declares August 2011, and each August 
          thereafter, as Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Fiscal Com.:  No



          CTW:mw  5/17/11   Senate Floor Analyses 

                       SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  NONE RECEIVED

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