"Ophelia" > wrote in
:

>
>
> "Alan Holbrook" > wrote in message
> . 3.30...
>> "Ophelia" > wrote in
>> :
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "Alan Holbrook" > wrote in message
>>> . 3.30...
>>>> notbob > wrote in
>>>> :
>>>>
>>>
>>> Well, I for one am very interested in the discussion. This is
>>> something that can hit any one of our families and I know
>> absolutely
>>> nothing about it. Given that 'cooking' isn't discussed in
every
>>> thread, I don't see the harm in it if you wanted to continue.
>>
>> OK, Ophelia, it isn't difficult to persuade me to keep
discussing
>> the topic. Between the fact that my wife has the disease and
that
>> I'm doing as much as I can as an advocate/volunteer, I'm
obviously
>> quite passionate about it. Yes, Alzheimer's can hit any one of
>> our families, and because there is this little known variation
>> called Younger Onset AD, it can hit any one of us. Using US
>> numbers, about 1.75% of the population (5.5 million people out
of
>> a population of 314,000,000) has the disease, and about 5% of
that
>> 1.75% (around 250,000 people) is under age 65 when diagnosed.
>> Huge numbers? No, but I still wouldn't want to play Russian
>> Roulette, even if the revolver had a very large number of
>> chambers. And because of how long AD sufferers can survive
>> physically and how much care they need during their lifetimes,
>> it's the most expensive disease per capita on the planet, with
the
>> potential to absolutely crush healthcare systems worldwide as
>> populations age and live longer (one in every two people in the
US
>> over 85 has the disease). It's the 6th leading cause of death
in
>> the US, and it's the only one of the 6 whose death rate is
>> increasing. And it's also the least funded in terms of
government
>> dollars for research of the top 6. And research into causes
and
>> cures is still in the stage of eliminating blind alleys rather
>> than having 6-lane superhighways to continue down, so it's
>> probably going to be a while before there's much progress of
the
>> kind that will be of immediate help.
>
> Thank you for your explanation. It is much appreciated.
>
>> There's a lot of information available on the web (surprise,
>> surprise!). A good place to start (sorry, notbob, but I
believe
>> their basic information is quite good...) is the Alzheimer's
>> Association's web site, www.alz.org. Bless you for wanting to
>> learn more, but I warn you, when you start looking for
>> information, it's going to be like drinking from a fire hose.
>> Take small sips.
>
> I will. I will have a look here too (UK) to see what there is
and I
> will (given your advice) take small sips! It is a very
frightening
> condition. God bless those families who take care of their folk
> themselves.
>
> Best wishes to you and your family
>
> O
>

The Alzheimer's Society, www.alzheimers.org.uk