Proclamation 5879 --
National Paralysis Awareness Week, 1988
By
the President of the
A
Proclamation
We
should all be aware that spinal cord injuries paralyze some 12,000 Americans
each year, adding to the total of nearly half a million citizens whose lives
have undergone this sudden and tragic change. Motor vehicle accidents are the
chief cause of these injuries, and young men are the most at risk; but spinal
cord injuries happen in many ways, and to anyone at
any age. War wounds have taken a large toll. Recreational and sports accidents
injure many, and so do mishaps in the home. Paralyzed people meet challenges
such as physical limitations, rehabilitation, and drains on financial resources
with determination, ingenuity, and a positive outlook. We do well to hold a
week in recognition of the needs, capabilities, accomplishments, and courage of
paralyzed Americans and of efforts in their behalf.
Understanding
of paralysis continues to grow, thanks to biomedical research led by scientists
supported by the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders
and Stroke. One major advance, with promising applicability to humans, is the
realization that injured nerve cells in animals' spinal cords can regrow and may reassume function. Other developments are
continuing.
Regeneration
of nerve cells appears to hold the best biological hope for paralyzed limbs.
Scientifically developed neural prostheses that use electrodes to connect nerve
cells to muscle fibers are permitting some restoration of function.
Investigators are seeking ways to limit post-injury tissue destruction by
controlling substances within the body that ironically damage spinal cord
tissue as they relieve trauma-induced pain and swelling. Such work has provided
new research leads that may one day enable people with injured spinal cords to
walk again.
The
Veterans' Administration has also long been a leader in spinal cord injury
clinical and research efforts. The VA operates the largest system of spinal
cord injury facilities in the world, serving approximately 20,000 patients each
year in 20 centers around our country. The VA also supports some 175 such
research projects.
As
we continue our national program of basic and clinical research on nervous
system trauma, let us take the occasion of National Paralysis Awareness Week,
1988, to resolve to do our share, personally and as communities, to assist,
befriend, and learn from paralyzed Americans.
The
Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 364, has designated the week of October 2
through
Now,
Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the
In
Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this seventh day of October, in
the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-eight, and of the
Ronald
Reagan
[Filed with the Office
of the Federal Register,