Whether it is a friend or a family member, we all know at least one person diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. At present, five million Americans are living with the disease, and the number will continue to grow in the coming years.
The disease is devastating to both the patient and his or her family. However, these individuals do not have to go through the struggle alone. Various tools and resources are available online to help people face this disease and the overwhelming costs that come with it.
Support groups and organizations have become more persistent in their push for prior planning to help solve issues on costs. They have even provided the means, such as long term care quiz and retirement planning checklist, to encourage individuals to take the proactive step.
As we welcome the month of November, let us all participate in National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month. The disease is crippling—there is no doubt about that. However, having a good understanding of what the disease is and what it can do can help immensely.
For this week’s roundup, we have gathered articles that discuss Alzheimer’s disease and the recent breakthroughs in finding the cure.
Familial Alzheimer’s Patients May Show Atypical Symptoms, Study Reports
The most common symptom of Alzheimer’s disease is memory loss. However, Magdalena Kegel of Alzheimer’s News Today reports a study done by researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine where they found that patients with familial Alzheimer’s disease display atypical symptoms.
Generation Us: Is it Alzheimer’s disease? Learn when to seek help
Forgetting where you parked in the car does not automatically mean that you have Alzheimer’s. Ellen Bikoff-Phipps of the Daily Progress stresses how Alzheimer’s disease is not a part of aging, and misplacing things does not mean that you have this condition. She, instead, highlights the signs that you need to watch out for to pinpoint if you or your loved one has the disease or not.
Daughter: My mother with Alzheimer’s had her life savings stolen
One of the many dark sides brought about by Alzheimer’s is a financial vulnerability. Patients with dementia are often the target of financial exploitation as seen on Wendy Halloran and Elizabeth’s 12News report. Here, they tell a story of how a daughter discovered that her relative was stealing her elderly mother’s savings.
Merck’s Alzheimer’s drug data fuel hopes for new treatment
MarketWatch’s Ciara Linnane features a new drug that targets the most visible sign of Alzheimer’s disease in a person’s brain. It works to stop the production of toxic amyloid proteins that are believed to cause sticky plaques common in the brains of individuals suffering from the condition.
Gene Therapy for Alzheimer’s Prevention, and Other News
Currently, treatment for Alzheimer’s only addresses the symptoms that are already present. However, Steve Pace shares through GoodTherapy.org a new gene therapy that prevents the formation of Alzheimer’s.
How are you taking part in spreading awareness of the effects of this devastating disease? Let us know in the comments section.