PRINTER'S NO. 270
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
25
Session of
2023
INTRODUCED BY SANTARSIERO, JANUARY 31, 2023
REFERRED TO RULES AND EXECUTIVE NOMINATIONS, JANUARY 31, 2023
A RESOLUTION
Recognizing January 30, 2023, as "CTE Awareness Day" in
Pennsylvania.
WHEREAS, Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a
degenerative brain disease that appears in individuals with a
history of repetitive brain trauma sustained over a period of
years; and
WHEREAS, CTE was first described by Dr. Harrison Martland in
a study entitled "Punch Drunk," which links brain injury and
boxing and was published in the Journal of the American Medical
Association in 1928; and
WHEREAS, It was not until 2002 that Dr. Bennet Omalu
discovered the first evidence of CTE in a professional football
player and, in collaboration with his colleagues at the
University of Pittsburgh, published the details of his
groundbreaking findings in a study entitled "Chronic Traumatic
Encephalopathy in a National Football League Player" in 2005;
and
WHEREAS, CTE is caused by a buildup of an abnormal protein,
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
known as tau, in the brain leading to brain cell death; and
WHEREAS, The risk of developing CTE is greatest in athletes
and military veterans, who frequently endure repeated
subconcussive blows to the head from playing contact sports or
suffer traumatic injury from military training or blasting; and
WHEREAS, CTE also appears in survivors of domestic abuse and
individuals with epilepsy; and
WHEREAS, Though the symptoms associated with CTE, including
memory loss, tremors, addictions, progressive dementia,
depression, suicidal thoughts, impaired judgment and paranoia,
often occur years after the brain trauma or hits cease, CTE
symptoms have been found in patients as young as 17 years of
age; and
WHEREAS, Currently, CTE can only be definitively diagnosed
after death through postmortem neuropathological analysis; and
WHEREAS, Advocacy organizations, health care providers and
institutional researchers are dedicated to studying the causes
and symptoms of CTE for the purpose of enabling parents to make
informed decisions regarding the best interests of their
children in youth sports and developing an earlier diagnostic
tool to identify CTE symptoms in patients as soon as possible;
and
WHEREAS, Each year, "CTE Awareness Day" is recognized by the
Patrick Risha CTE Awareness Foundation and other organizations
across the United States to bring awareness regarding the
individuals who died from the symptoms associated with CTE, how
to assist individuals suffering with CTE and, most importantly,
how to prevent CTE; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate recognize January 30, 2023, as "CTE
Awareness Day" in Pennsylvania.
20230SR0025PN0270 - 2 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30