National Alzheimer’s Awareness Month
Every November the nation turns its attention to the disease which has no known causes and which has no cure:
Alzheimer’s.
Over 18 million people, 5.3 million Americans, are suffering from it. The nation’s sixth leading cause of death, 25,000 people die from it each year. Every 67 seconds a new case emerges. For every person with AD there is often at least one other person who directly cares for the individual and a host of healthcare and social workers, advocates, volunteers, and support workers in the background.
With so many people directly or indirectly involved with AD, it is good that a time of the year is set aside to
promote awareness. This issue of Stuff is dedicated to thosewho have Alzheimer’s and to those who strive to make the lives of people with it better. We urge everyone to read the essay in the next column. It captures the essence of
National Alzheimer’s Month better than anything we could create for this issue. It provides a discussion of our status and, more importantly, it provides direction as to where we must focus our attention.
links:
alz.org,
pal-item.com,
newmemoryhelp.com,
alzresourcecenter.com,
fosterfollynews.com,
www.whitehouse.gov
The Single Greatest Threat to the Health Of America!
From The New York Times, October 27, 2010.
Written by SandraDay O’Connor, Stanley Prusiner and Ken Dychtwald
Alzheimer’s disease is an illness that is 100 percent incurable and 100 percent fatal. It attacks rich and poor, white-collar and blue, and women and men. A degenerative disease, it steadily robs its victims of memory, judgment and dignity, leaves them unable to care for themselves and destroys their brain and their identity — often depleting their caregivers and families both emotionally and financially.
Starting on Jan. 1, our 79-million-strong baby boom generation will be turning 65 at the rate of one every eight seconds. That means more than 10,000 people per day, or more than four million per year, for the next 19 years are facing an increased risk of Alzheimer’s. It is estimated that 13.5 million Americans will be stricken with Alzheimer’s by 2050 — up from five million today.
Just as President John F. Kennedy, in 1961, dedicated the United States to landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade.
We must now set a goal of stopping Alzheimer’s by 2020.
We must deploy sufficient resources, scientific talent and problem-solving technologies to save our collective future.
As things stand today, for each penny the National Institutes of Health spends on Alzheimer’s research, we spend more than $3.50 on caring for people with the condition. This explains why the financial cost of not conducting adequate research is so high.
The United States spends $172 billion a year to care for people with Alzheimer’s.
By 2020 the cumulative price tag, in current dollars, will be $2 trillion, and by 2050, $20 trillion. If we could simply postpone the onset of Alzheimer’s disease by five years, a large share of nursing home beds in the United States would empty. And— if we could eliminate it, as Jonas Salk wiped out polio with his vaccine, we would greatly expand the potential of all Americans to live long, healthy and productive lives — and save trillions of dollars doing it.
Experience has taught us that we cannot avoid Alzheimer’s disease by having regular medical checkups, by being involved in nourishing relationships or by going to the gym or filling in crossword puzzles. What’s needed are new medicines that attack the causes of the disease directly. So far, none actually slows the underlying neurodegeneration.
Most of the medical researchers who study Alzheimer’s agree on what they have to understand in order to create effective drugs: They must find out how the aberrant proteins associated with the disease develop in the brain. They need to model the progression of the illness so they can pinpoint drug targets. And ultimately they must learn how to get drugs to move safely from the blood into the brain.
A breakthrough is possible by 2020!
Leading Alzheimer’s scientists agree, with a well-designed and adequately financed national strategic plan. Congress has before it, legislation that would raise the annual federal investment in Alzheimer’s research to $2 billion, and require that the president designate an official whose sole job would be to develop and execute a strategy against Alzheimer’s.
If lawmakers could pass this legislation in their coming lame-duck session, they would take a serious first step toward meeting the 2020 goal. Medical science has the capacity to relegate Alzheimer’s to the list of former diseases like typhoid, polio and many childhood cancers.
But unless we get to work now, any breakthrough will come too late to benefit the baby boomers. Whether the aging of America turns out to be a triumph or a tragedy will depend on our ability to fight this horrific disease and beat it before it beats us.
Your Health
10 Signs of Alzheimer’s
Memory loss that disrupts daily life is not a typical part of aging. It may be a symptom of Alzheimer’s, a fatal brain disease that causes a slow decline in memory, thinking, and reasoning skills.
Every individual may experience one or more of these signs in different degrees. If you notice any of them, please see your doctor.
- Memory loss that disrupts daily life.
- Challenges in planning or solving problems
- Difficulty in completing tasks
- Confusion with time or place
- Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships
- New problems with words in speaking or writing
- Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps
- Decreased or poor judgment
- Withdrawal from work or social activities
- Changes in mood and personality
Come join us for a
Pre-Veteran's Day Remembrance Luncheon
to honor all our local veterans and their families. Veterans, come and bring your family and share your military experiences and stories. Complementary Light Lunch and Refreshments will be served.
RSVP TO JENNIFER WILDER (386-740-6860
BY TUESDAY, NOV. 2ND (TOMORROW!)
From the Volunteer Office
Interested in volunteering? Call Pat at 736- 5016, visit her at the Sanborn Center or email her at: www.volunteers@deland.org
Your City Needs You!
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At The Athens
Live:
4,5,6,7, 12,13, 14—Sweeney Todd (The mad barber runs into Sondheim)
17—Stetson University Jazz Ensemble (Always phenomenal!)
20-21—Area School Dance and Music (Lotsof different performances all day long during the Arts Festival)
22—Novelist Jonathan Franzen, (The Corrections), Lecture
Film:
1 & 11—White Ribbon
4 & 8—Genius Within
14 & 27—Last Train Home
18—Jean-Luc-Godard’s, Breathless (not to be missed)
Opera and Ballet:
7 & 14—Tchaikovsky’s, Queen of Spades
27—The Nutcracker
28—Gounod’s, Romeo and Juliet
For more information regarding these events, call the Box Office: 736-7456 or go online at:
www.athenstheatre.org/Calendar.html
Music at Stetson
2—Percussion Chamber
5—Chamber Orchestra
13—Southern Winds
14—University Symphonic Band (4pm)
17—Jazz ensemble (Athens Theatre)
19—Symphonic Orchestra
20—Youth Strings Recital (3pm)
20—Stetson Women Chorale and Men
21—Brass Ensembles (3pm)
Unless noted, events are at Lee Chapel, Elizabeth Hall, at 7:30 pm (822-8950)
Theatre at Stetson
11-13—Student-Directed One Act Plays
14—Student-Directed One-Act Plays (3pm)
Performances are at the Stove Theatre, (822-7526), 8 pm
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Events at The Sanborn
M- Shuffleboard-1:30, Monday Dance,
Square Dance-6:00
T- W V Chorus Practice-2:30, Pinochle-
6:30, Ballroom Dance Lessons-6:30
W-Tai-Chi-8:30, It’s All About Art-9:45,
Charley Baker Bridge-12, Chess Club-12
Scrabble-12. Mexican Train-12:45,
T-Quilters-8:30, Canasta-11, Ballroom
Dance Lessons-2:30
F-West Volusia Artists-9, Shuffleboard
Open Play-1:30
The City of DeLand Senior Council is responsible for producing this four-piece thing on a monthly basis. Council members include:
Deborah Tolan, Chair
Virginia Comella
Vivien Powis, Vice Chair
George Sherman
Jack Allen
Nan Smith
Ron Burgher
Jennifer Wilder
ex officio members:
Maria Becker
Michael Pleus
O30
Two cans of food gets you half-price gate admission (that night only)
