Alzheimer's disease: Prevention, symptoms and treatment, plus one family's story

This story was originally titled "Life with Alzheimer's," in the February 2008 issue. Subscribe to Canadian Living today and never miss an issue!

My mother stuck her head into the basement office of the house I shared with my parents in St. Catharines, Ont. "Don't tell your father," she said timidly, "but I can't remember how to use the washing machine."

I was stunned. Until then, my mom, Kay Warwick, had been a sharp-witted woman, who at the age of 78 could pull information on people and places from her mental file at will. It was my father, Ken, 77, who had the poor memory.

Like many other people whose loved ones show early signs of dementia, I ignored the incident; maybe my mom was just tired or overly stressed. While I had heard of Alzheimer's disease – and even knew of a few people who had it – I didn't connect it to my mom's odd behaviour. But as her symptoms worsened over the next few years, I couldn't ignore the problem anymore. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in late 1995. I helped my dad care for her until her death in 1999. Then my dad fell ill with Alzheimer's. I'm now caring for him at home.

In the years between the two diagnoses, there has been a sea change in knowledge about Alzheimer's disease. Today, my dad has access to treatments my mom never had – drugs that may stall the progress of the disease. We now know more about what might trigger Alzheimer's disease and how to prevent it. And this is just the beginning: as scientists work to develop vaccines and other novel therapies that attack the disease process, the next few years promise to be even more productive. "We're about halfway through the most exciting decade in the history of the treatment of this disease," says Dr. Jack Diamond, scientific director for the Alzheimer Society of Canada.

What is Alzheimer's disease?
Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, is characterized by the buildup in the brain of "plaques" containing a protein called beta-amyloid, and by twisted fibers, or "tangles," made of another protein called tau. Although many people develop these plaques and sometimes the tangles as they age, patients with Alzheimer's tend to have a lot more of them. Most experts believe that these plaques and tangles somehow block communication among nerve cells, slowly robbing a person of his or her memory and the ability to function normally.

Today, about 300,000 Canadians have Alzheimer's, but that number is expected to dramatically increase as baby boomers continue to age. And most of them will be female: twice as many women as men get the disease, partly because women tend to outlive their partners, but also because at menopause they suddenly lose estrogen, a hormone that seems to protect against Alzheimer's, says Diamond.

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