Keeping Busy to Ward Off Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's Disease Forced My Early Retirement

I was a senior executive at a fortune 1000 company with the goal of working until I was sixty-five and leading my own company as a Chief Executive Officer. However, at age 48, I began to present the symptoms of early onset Alzheimer’s disease. My symptoms included insomnia, speech difficulties, a problem with focus and concentration and a general problem with spatial awareness. As a result, I left work to seek a medical diagnosis and treatment. My desire was to identify and treat my problem and return to the workplace and resume my career. Unfortunately, after eighteen months and five separate diagnoses of early onset Alzheimer’s disease, I was forced to retire and seek Social Security disability.

Today, I spend my time and energy advocating for the National Alzheimer’s Association and raising awareness of the disease. All Americans should know the following facts:

• A person contracts Alzheimer’s disease every 71 seconds.

• A person dies from Alzheimer’s disease every 8 minutes.

• Alzheimer’s disease is fatal in all cases.

• No medication is available to slow the progression of the disease.

• As many as 5.2 million Americans currently suffer from Alzheimer’s

disease and other related dementias.

• Between 200 and 500 thousand people with Alzheimer’s disease are

under the age of 65.

• 26 million people suffer from Alzheimer’s or other related dementias

worldwide.

• By mid-century, it is anticipated as many as 16 million Americans

will have Alzheimer’s disease or other related dementias.

• 10 million “baby boomers” will contract Alzheimer’s disease in their

lifetime.

• Federal funding for Alzheimer’s research has not been increased for

the past three years; less than 1 million dollars per year have been

allocated to fund research seeking a cure.

• Alzheimer’s disease is the 6th leading cause of death in the U.S.

• Death attributed to Alzheimer’s disease increased by 44.7% between

2000 and 2005.

Bill Bridgwater of CO @ Jun 18, 2008 17:16:26 PM