Dear Clueless

I have lost both parents, a grandmother, an aunt and a cousin to Alzheimer's Disease. They all died either of the disease itself, or of another cause but in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's. Currently, a cousin from each side of my family is living with the disease. One is in advanced stages in a nursing home and the other is beginning to lose ground. The numbers stagger me. Every 63 seconds a new diagnosis of Alzheimer s occurs in the US. 40 years ago, when my grandmother was diagnosed, very few people had heard of the disease. Now, it seems as if every new acquaintance has a family member or friend stricken with Alzheimer s. Age is no longer a factor although most cases are diagnosed after age 65. Early onset Alzheimer s seems to be more and more common. The youngest person on record with Alzheimer s is a two-year-old toddler. Death from the disease takes from 8-10 years after diagnosis usually. There is no cure, and currently treatment is woefully inadequate. This book is both a personal story of a decade-long journey of caregiving as well as a call to arms for funding and research of this terminal disease.