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Half of a million people in the United States under age 65 have Alzheimer's. Every seventy-one seconds someone develops it. By 2050 the Alzheimer's Association predicts that number will climb to every thirty-three seconds.
“They realize each day is a blessing because they don’t know when they are going to slip into silence,” Lisa Genova, author of Still Alice, told Ivanhoe.
Age 60, 52, 48 … even 40. These are the new faces of Alzheimer's.
“It is a crisis,” said Genova.
Karen Waterhouse is only 51, but her mind is turning on her. Karen was diagnosed at 49 with Alzheimer's. “I was devastated. It just devastated me. Who would ever believe you could get it at this age. And I had no idea,” Waterhouse told Ivanhoe.
Many people with early-onset Alzheimer's have a parent or grandparent who also developed Alzheimer's at a younger age. In fact a person whose parent or sibling has Alzheimer's is 3.5 times more likely to develop it as well. And African Americans develop Alzheimer's a twice the rate of Caucasians -- and they develop it earlier too.
Genova is documenting the devastation of early onset Alzheimer's -- the inspiration for her book, Still Alice, came from her grandmother who died from it. At that time, Genova studied neuroscience at Harvard.
“The neuroscientist in me wondered about the destruction of what was going on in the inside,” said Genova. The grand daughter, daughter and later mother, wondered about the diseases affect on her family and future generations.
“I think the hardest part is not being able to do anything about it,” said Genova.
But now she's shedding light on those often overlooked by this debilitating disease.
“Once the rug is pulled out from under them it is a long and terrifying fall,” said Genova. An even longer fall for those who develop Alzheimer's at a younger age.
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