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PRINTER'S NO. 3475
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No. 546
Session of
2026
INTRODUCED BY MOUL, COOK, VENKAT, MADDEN, NEILSON, FEE,
HANBIDGE, PASHINSKI, FLICK, GALLAGHER AND ROWE, MAY 29, 2026
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, JUNE 1, 2026
A RESOLUTION
Recognizing the week of September 28 through October 4, 2026, as
"Frontotemporal Degeneration Awareness Week" in Pennsylvania.
WHEREAS, Frontotemporal degeneration (FTD) is identified in
the National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease as a related
dementia and included as a priority in the goals and strategies
to achieve the vision of a nation free of Alzheimer's disease
and related dementias; and
WHEREAS, FTD is referenced in the Pennsylvania State Plan for
Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders, which contains
recommendations to define a response to the current and
anticipated growth of the number of Pennsylvanians living with
Alzheimer's disease and related disorders; and
WHEREAS, The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration
reports that FTD is a terminal and incurable neurodegenerative
disease affecting the frontal and temporal lobes, causing
impairments to speech, personality, behavior and motor skills,
which constitutes a major public health concern; and
WHEREAS, It takes an average of 3.6 years from the start of
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symptoms to get an accurate diagnosis of FTD, with average life
expectancy of 7 to 13 years after the start of symptoms; and
WHEREAS, FTD strikes people as young as 17 years of age and
as old as 87 years of age, with the largest percentage of those
affected being in their 40s to 60s, rendering people in the
prime of life unable to work or function normally; and
WHEREAS, FTD represents an estimated 5% to 15% of all
dementia cases and is the most common form of dementia for
people under 60 years of age; 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 and to 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, 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 and difficulty swallowing 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
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WHEREAS, The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration is
the leading national organization exclusively focused on the
spectrum of FTD disorders with a mission to improve the quality
of life of people affected by FTD and drive research to a cure;
and
WHEREAS, It is imperative that there be greater awareness of
this serious disease, and more must be done to increase activity
at the national, State and local levels; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives recognize the
week of September 28 through October 4, 2026, as "Frontotemporal
Degeneration Awareness Week" in Pennsylvania.
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