[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 546 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 546

Supporting the goals and ideals of a National Polycystic Kidney Disease 
     Awareness Week to raise public awareness and understanding of 
  polycystic kidney disease and to foster understanding of the impact 
  polycystic kidney disease has on patients and future generations of 
                            their families.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 2, 2006

 Mr. DeWine submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
        the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Supporting the goals and ideals of a National Polycystic Kidney Disease 
     Awareness Week to raise public awareness and understanding of 
  polycystic kidney disease and to foster understanding of the impact 
  polycystic kidney disease has on patients and future generations of 
                            their families.

Whereas polycystic kidney disease (known as ``PKD'') is the most prevalent life-
        threatening genetic disease in the United States, is a severe, 
        dominantly inherited disease that has a devastating impact, in both 
        human and economic terms, on people of all ages, and affects equally 
        people of all races, sexes, nationalities, geographic locations, and 
        income levels;
Whereas, based on prevalence estimates by the National Institutes of Health, it 
        is estimated that about 600,000 patients in the United States have a 
        genetic inheritance from 1 or both parents called polycystic kidney 
        disease, and that countless additional friends, loved ones, spouses, and 
        caregivers must shoulder the physical, emotional, and financial burdens 
        that polycystic kidney disease causes;
Whereas polycystic kidney disease, for which there is no cure, is 1 of the 4 
        leading causes of kidney failure in the United States;
Whereas the vast majority of polycystic kidney disease patients reach kidney 
        failure at an average age of 53, causing a severe strain on dialysis and 
        kidney transplantation resources and on the delivery of health care in 
        the United States, as the largest segment of the population of the 
        United States, the ``baby boomers'', continues to age;
Whereas end stage renal disease is one of the fastest growing components of the 
        Medicare budget, and polycystic kidney disease contributes to that cost 
        by an estimated $2,000,000,000 annually for dialysis, kidney 
        transplantation, and related therapies;
Whereas polycystic kidney disease is a systemic disease that causes damage to 
        the kidney and the cardiovascular, endocrine, hepatic, and 
        gastrointestinal organ systems and instills in patients a fear of an 
        unknown future with a life-threatening genetic disease and apprehension 
        over possible genetic discrimination;
Whereas the severity of the symptoms of polycystic kidney disease and the 
        limited public awareness of the disease causes many patients to live in 
        denial and forego regular visits to their physicians or to avoid 
        following good health management which would help avoid more severe 
        complications when kidney failure occurs;
Whereas people who have chronic, life-threatening diseases like polycystic 
        kidney disease have a predisposition to depression (7 times the national 
        average) and its resultant consequences due to their anxiety over pain, 
        suffering, and premature death;
Whereas the Senate and taxpayers of the United States desire to see treatments 
        and cures for disease and would like to see results from investments in 
        research conducted by the National Institutes of Health and from such 
        initiatives as the NIH Roadmap to the Future;
Whereas polycystic kidney disease is a verifiable example of how collaboration, 
        technological innovation, scientific momentum, and public-private 
        partnerships can generate therapeutic interventions that directly 
        benefit polycystic kidney disease sufferers, save billions of Federal 
        dollars under Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs for dialysis, 
        kidney transplants, immunosuppressant drugs, and related therapies, and 
        make available several thousand openings on the kidney transplant 
        waiting list;
Whereas improvements in diagnostic technology and the expansion of scientific 
        knowledge about polycystic kidney disease have led to the discovery of 
        the 3 primary genes that cause polycystic kidney disease and the 3 
        primary protein products of the genes and to the understanding of cell 
        structures and signaling pathways that cause cyst growth that has 
        produced multiple polycystic kidney disease clinical drug trials;
Whereas the national PKD Foundation and its 60 volunteer chapters around the 
        country are dedicated to expanding essential research, fostering public 
        awareness and understanding of polycystic kidney disease, educating 
        polycystic kidney disease patients and their families about the disease 
        to improve their treatment and care, providing appropriate moral 
        support, and encouraging people to become organ donors; and
Whereas the PKD Foundation's Walk for PKD has grown from a small, grassroots 
        activity to an annual national awareness event held during the third 
        week of September, and such week would be an appropriate time to 
        recognize National Polycystic Kidney Disease Week: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) supports the goals and ideals of a National Polycystic 
        Kidney Disease Awareness Week to raise public awareness and 
        understanding of polycystic kidney disease (known as ``PKD'');
            (2) recognizes the need for additional research into a cure 
        for polycystic kidney disease; and
            (3) encourages the people of the United States and 
        interested groups to support National Polycystic Kidney 
        Awareness Week through appropriate ceremonies and activities to 
        promote public awareness of polycystic kidney disease and to 
        foster understanding of the impact of the disease on patients 
        and their families.
                                 <all>