The Alzheimer’s Project

The Alzheimer’s Project is a four-part documentary series produced by HBO Documentary Films in partnership with the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health. Also associated with the project are the Alzheimer’s Association, Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, and Geoffrey Beene Gives Back Alzheimer’s Initiative. The series started on the night of Mother’s Day.

The four parts are:

The Memory Loss Tapes Grandpa, Do You Know Who I Am? with Maria Shriver Momentum in Science Caregivers

There are several ways you can watch this besides the HBO channel on TV. You can see the series at http://budurl.com/3j9k. You can even buy the book at http://budurl.com/8r68. All of the information about this project and related information is available at the HBO website at http://budurl.com/trw3.

The figures on Alzheimer’s are staggering. The Alzheimer’s Association reports the following:

As many as 5.3 million people in the United States are living with Alzheimer’s.

in the United States are living with Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s and dementia triple healthcare costs for Americans age 65 and older.

for Americans age 65 and older. Every 70 seconds, someone develops Alzheimer’s.

someone develops Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s is the sixth-leading cause of death .

. The direct and indirect costs of Alzheimer’s and other dementias to Medicare, Medicaid and businesses amount to more than $148 billion each year.

One person featured on part one of The Alzheimer’s Project writes a blog that gives you a real insight into the frustration an Alzheimer’s patient faces. http://living-with-alzhiemers.blogspot.com/

I have a personal interest in this — my dad had Alzheimer’s. I was not his personal caretaker, my mom and my sister were. I went to Hawaii to help my mom take care of him when my sister went on a well-deserved vacation. In his final two summers, I recall the first summer when he was so happy to see me, but he couldn’t figure out how I’d gotten there. The final summer the smiles were no longer there, and if not living in a state of confusion, he slept a lot.

So my wonderful Mother’s Day ended on a bittersweet note watching The Memory Loss Tapes. I empathize with the many families that are caretakers to their loved ones. My family, especially my mom and my sister, were there, too.

In future posts we will look at what we can do pro-actively to possibly prevent or slow down the onset of Alzheimer’s. Many of us are afraid of the devastating toll on the patient and their families. Let’s do something about it.

I invite you to comment on The Alzheimer’s Project.

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Filed under: Alzheimer's • Senior Health

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