Impact of Alzheimer’s Disease and the Role of the Patient’s Family

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease. How prevalent is it? We are told there may be 1.5 to 2 million patients in this country. But let’s take a broader look at how it affects families. Multiply 1.5 million or 2 million patients by 4, a conservative family size. That equals 6 to 8 million Americans who are closely involved as family members. Family members close enough to be deeply hurt by one of the most insidious and vicious diseases ever encountered by the human race. Humans have amazing recuperative powers. We can survive and even overcome major physical handicaps and go on to live triumphant lives. But what happens when the very tool needed to fight such disease and handicaps—the brain—is the first organ to fail? The Alzheimer’s patient cannot fight it and the dismayed family must watch helplessly for years the all-tooslow decline of mental, then physical, capacity … some for as long as 12 to 14 years. We are all aware that the grieving process at the death of a loved one is a necessary passage, but what happens to families when grief becomes a daily companion over such extended periods of time? Indeed, the damage done by this monstrous disease may be more widespread than any of us realizes!