Proclamation 5689

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

Alzheimer's disease is a degenerative brain disorder that causes progressive loss of memory and intellectual function. Those afflicted suffer increasing forgetfulness, confusion, irritability, and other changes in personality and behavior, and sometimes in judgment, concentration, and speech.

The tragedy of Alzheimer's disease has spurred scientists to intensify their efforts to understand what causes the brain to deteriorate. Recently, a research team cloned a gene involved in the wayward biochemistry of the Alzheimer's brain and located this gene on a specific chromosome. This achievement opens new lines of investigation and offers hope that one day we can identify those at risk and develop methods of treatment and prevention.

Until we conquer Alzheimer's disease, we must continue our research efforts, provide the public with information about the disorder, and seek other ways to ease its burden on patients, families, and caregivers. Many people and organizations are already devoted to this effort, including the Federal government's National Institute on Aging and National Institute of Mental Health and the private sector's Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association, which conducts and promotes research and lends support to families seeking help.

The Congress, by Public Law 100-68, has designated the month of November 1987 as "National Alzheimer's Disease Month" and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this occasion.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the month of November 1987 as National Alzheimer's Disease Month, and I call upon the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fourth day of August, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twelfth.

RONALD REAGAN

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 12:20 p.m., August 5, 1987]