The heart remembers…Today, September 21, 2012, is Alzheimer’s Action Day– so put on your PURPLE and help to raise awareness for this devastating disease. Over 35 MILLION people worldwide and 5.4 MILLION Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). $200 BILLION will be spent in the US alone this year caring for people suffering with AD. This disease slowly invaded my amazing mother’s brain, creeping along for over a decade, steadily pulling her away from our family. As we don our purple today, we stand together with every other family who has helplessly witnessed this “long goodbye”. I hope and pray we are in the last decade without a cure or full prevention for Alzheimer’s.
Significant memory loss is NOT a normal part of aging. Misplacing your keys, forgetting a friend’s name at a chance meeting or not being sure why you walked in to a room are frustrating events- but usually a sign of a busy mind focusing on other things. Missing multiple appointments or bills, not knowing how to drive home from your neighborhood store or losing the ability to balance a checkbook (when that used to be a straightforward process) ARE worrisome signs.
Major advances are being made in understanding how Alzheimer disease affects the brain, and the sequence in which it progresses. The hope is to find a way to block that progression, and research dollars donated today will help scientists find that barrier.
BOTTOM LINE: If Alzheimer’s disease has touched YOUR life, join in the fight to find a cure and start with wearing PURPLE today!