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.


A family affair
As I was growing up, my parents were in pretty good physical health. Both were very active in the community. My mom did regular volunteer work, even serving for a time on the national board of the Canadian Save the Children Fund, while raising two children: me and my younger, adopted brother, Paul. My dad was a bookkeeper for a local paint company who, after he retired, became active in the Kiwanis and United Way.

When my mom was diagnosed, it was with "probable Alzheimer's" – "probable" because a diagnosis could be confirmed only when an autopsy showed the hallmark plaques and tangles in the brain. Blood work had ruled out other possible causes of her dementia-like symptoms, including Parkinson's disease, stroke and thyroid problems. A Mini-Mental State Examination and a more extensive cognitive exam also suggested Alzheimer's.

Mom accepted her illness and her increasing limitations with grace. Dad dropped everything to care for her. He tenderly bathed her, washed her clothes, fed her, sat with her and rarely left her side. When he had to go out, I took over, but it was difficult; his absences only made her anxious. She would continually ask when he was coming home.

Typical of Alzheimer's patients, my mom suffered several "deaths." Almost every day, the disease took away another little piece of her mind. There was also the physical death; she died in her sleep on Sept. 14, 1999, at the age of 85. The official cause was old age. (Alzheimer's is rarely the direct cause of death, but it makes people more vulnerable to other illnesses, especially pneumonia.)

Ten years after my mom first displayed signs of Alzheimer's, my dad started d