WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are introducing a bill to better research the causes behind brain diseases like ALS, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
It comes on the tenth anniversary of the Ice Bucket Challenge, which swept social media and raised more than $100 million for research into ALS.
The neurodegenerative disease is one of several that Virginia Democrat Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton wants to better understand.
“Why is this happening? Why me? That’s why we’re here today,” Wexton said.
Wexton was diagnosed with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, or PSP, last year. It affects her mobility and speech.
“I can no longer give the same kind of impassioned, impromptu speeches during debates on the floor or in committee hearings. This very impressive AI recreation of my voice does the speaking for me,” Wexton said.
She’s using her voice to call for more research into PSP and other neurological diseases.
“Because we don’t have good enough answers to why these brain diseases occur,” Wexton said.
Wexton’s “Healthy Brains Act” would ramp up research into the environmental risk factors that may cause certain brain diseases. It would also establish centers that support that research.
“This bill will give hope,” said Ted Thompson, Senior Vice President of Public Policy at the Michael J. Fox Foundation. He says this is a big step forward.
“We know with Parkinson’s that only about 20 to 25% is genetic. The rest has some sort of environmental trigger,” Thompson said.
Wexton’s bill has bipartisan support. Florida Republican Congressman Gus Bilirakis is a cosponsor.
