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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, Scleroderma, or systemic sclerosis, is a chronic | ||||||
| 3 | connective tissue disease generally classified as one of the | ||||||
| 4 | autoimmune rheumatic diseases; the word "scleroderma" comes | ||||||
| 5 | from two Greek words: "sclero" meaning hard, and "derma" | ||||||
| 6 | meaning skin; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, Hardening of the skin is one of the most visible | ||||||
| 8 | manifestations of the disease; the disease has been called | ||||||
| 9 | "progressive systemic sclerosis," but the use of that term has | ||||||
| 10 | been discouraged since it has been found that scleroderma is | ||||||
| 11 | not necessarily progressive; the disease may take several | ||||||
| 12 | forms, and there is also much variability among patients; and
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| 13 | WHEREAS, Scleroderma is not contagious, it is not | ||||||
| 14 | infectious, it is not cancerous or malignant; there are an | ||||||
| 15 | estimated 300,000 people in the United States who have | ||||||
| 16 | scleroderma, about one third of whom have the systemic form of | ||||||
| 17 | scleroderma; localized scleroderma is more common in children, | ||||||
| 18 | whereas systemic scleroderma is more common in adults; | ||||||
| 19 | scleroderma can develop and is found in every age group from | ||||||
| 20 | infants to the elderly, but its onset is most frequent between | ||||||
| 21 | the ages of 25 to 55;
and
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| 22 | WHEREAS, The Greater Chicago Chapter of the Scleroderma | ||||||
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| 1 | Foundation is working within the State of Illinois to heighten | ||||||
| 2 | awareness and aid in funding for research for this disease; and
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| 3 | WHEREAS, The mission of the Greater Chicago Chapter of the | ||||||
| 4 | Scleroderma Foundation is to help patients and their families | ||||||
| 5 | cope with scleroderma through mutual support programs, peer | ||||||
| 6 | counseling, physician referrals, and educational information; | ||||||
| 7 | to promote public awareness and education through patient and | ||||||
| 8 | health professional seminars, literature, and publicity | ||||||
| 9 | campaigns; and to stimulate and support research to improve | ||||||
| 10 | treatment and ultimately find the cause of and cure for | ||||||
| 11 | scleroderma and related diseases; therefore, be it
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| 12 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 13 | NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
| 14 | proclaim April 26, 2007 to be Scleroderma Awareness Day in the | ||||||
| 15 | State of Illinois, asking all the citizens of the State of | ||||||
| 16 | Illinois to take time to learn more about scleroderma and the | ||||||
| 17 | need for more funding to combat this disease; and be it further
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| 18 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 19 | presented to the Greater Chicago Chapter of the Scleroderma | ||||||
| 20 | Foundation as a symbol of our respect.
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