Support in Numbers

5.3 million people are affliced with Alzheimer's disease. That's about the enitre population of the State of Minnesota where I live. No one can really say how many family members of Alzheimer's victims and loved ones are affected. Is it 15 million? 30 Million? 50 million? perhaps 15 to 20 percent of the population? Why are there so few blog's on Alzheimer's? Is it becouse video games are more fun? We are all going to get older and older. We live longer. Alzheimer's is not caused by aging and you know it is NOT a normal part of aging. The major risk factor for Alzheimer's is advancing age however.
If you live into your sixties, there is about a one in five chance you will devlop Alzheimer's disease. If you live into your 80's it is even odds. 50/50
We are a youth and beauty driven culture. Alzheimer's is not pretty. It is detestable.
Moreover it is a profoundly isolating experience for the caregiver. I know that most people taking care of a loved one or family member with Alzheimer's Disease (AD), probably do not have much time to read this. But you are not alone.
My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in 1979. I had just turned 17 years old at the time. I was her primary caregiver for two years. She went through every stage of the disease, and died about 8 years after the diagnosis. It was mean and aggressive.
She died in my third year of medical school. I learned all about Alzheimer's before it was a household word. Back when it used to call it "Senility" or "hardening of the arteries of the brain" Both of these terms are strong misnomers.
I treated many patients with AD over the years. I have seen there families suffer. I have lived the isolation and as a doctor have treated my patients and their families struggeling with the isolation. This blog is for the unity and hope of all those caregiving and surviving Alzheimer's.
When you know you are not alone, there is a little bit of fortitude that is added to the caregivers spirit and decreasgin that isolation in any way possible is my foremost goal