HOUSE BILL NO. 5963
September 26, 2024, Introduced by Reps. Byrnes, Miller, Edwards, Dievendorf, Wegela, Whitsett,
Morgan, Andrews, Farhat, Hill, Brixie, Hope, Steckloff, Brabec, Rheingans, Grant, Paiz,
Conlin, Hood, McKinney, Young, Weiss, Brenda Carter and Haadsma and referred to the
Committee on Health Policy.
A bill to recognize the month of May of each year as
Huntington's Disease Awareness Month.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
1 Sec. 1. (1) The legislature recognizes the challenges
2 presented by Huntington's disease. Huntington's disease is a
3 progressive degenerative neurological disease affecting over 41,000
4 Americans while another 200,000 are genetically at risk of
5 inheriting the expanded gene responsible for causing the disease.
6 Each child of a parent with Huntington's disease has a 50% chance
7 of inheriting the Huntington's disease gene. Huntington's disease
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1 typically occurs in mid-life between the ages of 30 and 50, though
2 onset has been known to occur in children as young as 2 years of
3 age. The average lifespan after onset of Huntington's disease is 10
4 to 20 years, and the younger the age of onset, the more rapid the
5 progression of the disease, resulting in children who develop the
6 juvenile form of the disease rarely living to adulthood.
7 Huntington's disease can present similarly to Alzheimer's,
8 Parkinson's, dementia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or mood
9 disorders, and due to the individualized nature of Huntington's
10 disease, the symptoms can present all at once or 1 at a time. Since
11 the discovery of the gene that causes Huntington's disease in 1993,
12 the pace of research into Huntington's disease has accelerated.
13 Scientists across the nation are conducting important research into
14 Huntington's disease, which at present has no effective treatment
15 or cure. It is critical to the success of research and support
16 services to raise awareness in the general public and the medical
17 community about Huntington's disease. In furtherance of this goal,
18 the legislature recognizes that adult onset Huntington's disease is
19 represented by the color blue, and juvenile onset Huntington's
20 disease is represented by the color purple.
21 (2) In recognition of the effects and challenges of
22 Huntington's disease, to encourage awareness of Huntington's
23 disease to the general public and medical community, and in keeping
24 with national standards, the legislature declares that the month of
25 May of each year in this state shall be known as "Huntington's
26 Disease Awareness Month".
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