Generation Alzheimer's

Michelle Seitzer, seniorsforliving.com

A new microsite has been developed by the Alzheimer's Association, with the apt albeit unsettling title - "Generation Alzheimer's: The Defining Disease of the Baby Boomers."

Facts like "An estimated 10 million baby boomers will develop Alzheimer's" as listed on the site certainly affirm the severity of the impact that Alzheimer's will have on boomers, many of whom are already afflicted via early-onset, or by way of caring for a spouse, parent, or other aging relative with the debilitating disease.

Stats on other major diseases (HIV, stroke, breast cancer, etc.) have shown an encouraging decline, but as the first of the boomers turn 65 this year, we should expect a sharp rise in the incidence of Alzheimer's.

Things are not going to get better until we find a cure, or until the causes of this disease and its deleterious effects are fully unraveled. And, for anyone who is or has been affected (as well as the researchers and scientists who are working hard to solve the mystery that is Alzheimer's), determining the cause and creating a cure are equally important pieces of the puzzle, goals which truly go hand-in-hand.

We can make all the improvements we want to the ways we provide & deliver care, the means by which we try to prevent the threat of this disease in our own households, the methods we utilize to treat the disease and delay its progression to the extent that it is possible. These improvements and

innovations are welcomed and necessary to keep ahead of the Alzheimer's wave, but they will only serve as a stopgap for this swelling, long-term problem.

At some point, a breakthrough must happen. Alzheimer's must be eradicated before the dam breaks.

Visit the microsite - http://alz-news.org - to get a copy of the landmark study generated by the Alzheimer's Association, watch videos from Alzheimer's champions as they speak passionately about the issues at hand, get links to various means for social media engagement (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, message boards, and a blog), and grab banners so that you too can be an advocate for the cause.

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