HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 8

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2015

INTRODUCED BY

Kelly K. Fajardo

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE GOVERNOR TO DESIGNATE SEPTEMBER 2015 AS "BRAIN ANEURYSM AWARENESS MONTH" IN NEW MEXICO.

     WHEREAS, a brain aneurysm is an abnormal saccular or fusiform bulging of an artery in the brain; and

     WHEREAS, an estimated one out of every fifty people in the United States has a brain aneurysm; and

     WHEREAS, brain aneurysms are most likely to occur in people between the ages of thirty-five and sixty, and there are typically no warning signs; and

     WHEREAS, brain aneurysms are more likely to occur in women than in men by a three-to-two ratio; and

     WHEREAS, young and middle-aged African Americans have a higher risk of brain aneurysm rupture compared to Caucasian Americans; and

     WHEREAS, various risk factors can contribute to the formation of a brain aneurysm, including smoking, hypertension and a family history of brain aneurysms; and

     WHEREAS, approximately six million people in the United States have a brain aneurysm; and

     WHEREAS, an unruptured brain aneurysm can lead to double vision, vision loss, loss of sensation, weakness, loss of balance, uncoordination and speech problems; and

     WHEREAS, a brain aneurysm is often discovered when it ruptures and causes a subarachnoid hemorrhage, which can lead to brain damage, hydrocephalus, stroke and death; and

     WHEREAS, each year, more than thirty thousand people in the United States suffer from ruptured brain aneurysms, and forty percent of these people die as a result of a ruptured brain aneurysm; and

     WHEREAS, annually, between three thousand and four thousand five hundred people in the United States with ruptured brain aneurysms die before reaching a hospital; and

     WHEREAS, a number of advancements have been made in recent years regarding the detection of aneurysms, including the computerized tomography (CT) scan, the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test and the cerebral arteriogram, and early detection can save lives; and

     WHEREAS, various research studies are currently being conducted in the United States in order to better understand, prevent and treat brain aneurysms; and

     WHEREAS, September 2015 would be an appropriate month to designate as "Brain Aneurysm Awareness Month" in New Mexico;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the governor be requested to designate September 2015 as "Brain Aneurysm Awareness Month" in New Mexico; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the governor and to the brain aneurysm foundation.

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