Posted: | March 21, 2017 03:36 PM |
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From: | Representative Joe Emrick and Rep. Tina M. Davis |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Resolution to Raise Awareness of PANS AND PANDAS |
In the near future Representative Tina Davis and I will be introducing a resolution to raise awareness to two common childhood afflictions which most parents, and many health professionals and educators are presently unaware of - Pediatric Acute Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS) and Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcal (PANDAS). PANS and PANDAS, which are believed to affect one in every 200 children, are infection induced autoimmune conditions that disrupt the normal neurologic functioning of the brain. Children with PANS and PANDAS tend to manifest symptoms such as tics or other abnormal movements, severe separation anxiety, generalized anxiety, irritability, aggression, personality changes, ADHD, marked deterioration in learning and school performance, extreme oversensitivity of the five senses, sleep disturbances, and developmental regression, including deterioration in handwriting. Children may experience moderate to dramatic improvement with antibiotics, intravenous immunoglobulin treatment, or plasmapheresis. Too often, however, PANS & PANDAS are misdiagnosed as behavioral and are mistakenly treated with psychiatric medications that do not address the root cause of their symptoms. The purpose of our resolution is to bring attention to these little known, and frequently undiagnosed or misdiagnosed disorders. By doing so, we hope to raise awareness of the need for the appropriate diagnosis of children exhibiting the signs and symptoms of PANS and PANDAS. Please join us in sponsoring this resolution. |
Introduced as HR317