Roland Gutierrez: “I am grateful that my bill, the Support Scleroderma Research bill (H. Con. Res. 320) has been scheduled to be considered…”

“I am grateful that my bill, the Support Scleroderma Research bill (H. Con. Res. 320) has been scheduled to be considered in the suspension calendar today. The speed with which this bipartisan bill has traveled from the committee mark-up to Floor consideration is a testament to the importance of this bi-partisan and non-controversial measure. Seleroderma is a chronic, often progressive autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system attacks its own tissues. The disease can manifest itself in two forms: localized scleroderma, affecting the skin and underlying tissue and systemic scleroderma, also known as systemic sclerosis, a potentially life-threatening disease that attacks internal organs including the lungs, heart, kidneys, esophagus and gastrointestinal tract. The wide range of symptoms and localized and systemic variations of the disease make it especially hard to diagnose. In fact, the average diagnosis is made five years after the onset of symptoms. Once diagnosed, however, people with this incurable disease can only look forward to symptomatic relief. More than 300,000 Americans suffer from sclerodema. More than 80 percent of them are women between the ages of 25 and 65 years old. Scleroderma is the 5th leading cause of death among all autoimmune diseases for women under 65 years of age. The estimated annual direct and indirect costs of scleroderma in the United States are $1,500,000,000.”