Proclamation 5735 --
National Tourette Syndrome
Awareness Week, 1987
By
the President of the
A
Proclamation
Tourette syndrome is a little-understood
neurological disorder characterized by compulsive repetitive behaviors.
Tic-like grimacing, shoulder-shrugging, sniffing, grunting, and coughing are
common symptoms of the disorder; less frequent but perhaps more alarming
symptoms include uncontrollable vocalizations, head-banging, and other
involuntary self-destructive actions.
An
estimated 100,000 Americans have Tourette syndrome to
a noticeable degree. Those with tic disorders may number as high as 3.5 million.
Symptoms appear in childhood, between the ages of 2 and 16 years, and wax and
wane over time but do not seem to become progressively worse. Males are three
times more likely to have the disorder than females.
Within
the Federal government, the search for answers to why people get Tourette syndrome and what is behind its puzzling symptoms
is led by the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders
and Stroke (NINCDS). Research teams at NINCDS and grantee institutions,
together with scientific colleagues in the private sector, are tracing and
analyzing the suspected genetic basis for the syndrome. Aided by increasingly
sophisticated techniques of brain imaging, they are determining the
significance in Tourette patients of unusually low
amounts of certain brain chemicals, called neurotransmitters, and investigating
anatomical structures within the brain that may be affected. They are testing
new drugs to control symptoms without causing depression and other serious side
effects.
Crucial
to the national research effort is the cooperation of patients with Tourette syndrome and their families, especially those
allied with the Tourette Syndrome Association, Inc. This voluntary health agency provides advice and
encouragement to patients coping not only with exhausting and painful physical
problems, but also with the attendant damaging social and emotional problems.
Because they cannot predict or control the vocalizations or movements that
periodically overtake them, people with Tourette can be
easy targets of misunderstanding and rejection. The Tourette
Syndrome Association plays an essential role in educating the public about the
disorder and about building acceptance and respect for those who refuse to
allow the disorder to diminish their lives or restrict their contributions to
society.
To
further enhance public awareness of Tourette
syndrome, the Congress, by Public Law 100 - 145, has designated the week of
November 2 through November 8, 1987, as ``National Tourette
Syndrome Awareness Week'' and authorized and requested the President to issue a
proclamation in observance of that week.
Now,
Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the
In
Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fourth day of November, in
the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-seven, and of the
Ronald
Reagan
[Filed with the Office
of the Federal Register,
Note: The proclamation
was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on November 5.