Alzheimer's Disease Epidemic?

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Ten years ago, Charles Rios was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. He was 58 years old, and he was having trouble at work and couldn't remember certain things.

"Things just seemed to fall I into place" after the diagnosis, says his wife, Della. "Conversations with him that were originally confusing to me, now made sense." Della Frazier Rios today serves as director of education and training at the Alzheimer's Association-NYC Chapter.

Estimates for the year 2002 suggest four million people in the US have Alzheimer's disease. But in the next few decades, that number is expected to skyrocket by 350 percent as America's baby-boomers age.

"That is an astronomical leap," admits Danielle Gray, Ph.D., a neuroscientist at Emory University in Atlanta who studies cognitive decline. "It's why we are mounting a great deal of collaborative efforts to do something about this illness."

In 2002, the Alzheimer's Association and Peter D. Hart Research Associates conducted a survey. The numbers they collected are staggering:

• 95% of Americans say Alzheimer's disease is a serious health threat.
• 57% worry they'll get the disease.
• 68% believe more funding is needed to help treat and/or prevent Alzheimer's.
• More than four in 10 Americans know someone with Alzheimer's.
• Nearly one in five has someone in their family with the disease.

There is no cure for Alzheimer's disease and few treatments are available for managing symptoms. The earliest symptoms -- memory difficulties and problems with abstract thinking -- can be vague and are tough to pinpoint. Researchers admit the key to developing better treatments is a more thorough understanding of what leads to Alzheimer's and their ability to diagnose it earlier. Currently, an "official" diagnose of Alzheimer's is made by ruling out other possible causes for the cognitive decline.