I talked about Alzheimer’s disease in my last posting. Maria Shriver, the First Lady of California has experienced Alzheimer’s close up with her father, and she worked closely with the Alzheimer’s Foundation to produce an important report. With the release of “The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Takes on Alzheimer’s,” there has been a lot of buzz about Alzheimer’s.
The report tells us that women are disproportionately more often a caregiver to an older spouse who may have some form of dementia. But women also represent almost two-thirds of those who will have Alzheimer’s disease. It is not genetically-linked. But it is a function of women’s greater likelihood to live to be much older than their male counterparts. With the expected epidemic of Alzheimer’s we will see globally in the next three decades, advocates are pushing for more funding of Alzheimer’s research. Currently a new case of dementia is diagnosed globally every seven seconds, and it is expected that there will be about 80 million people with the condition by 2040. As a Geriatric Care Manager, you can imagine that dementia generally and Alzheimer’s specifically are becoming an ever larger part of my work. Our association, the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers has a lot of elder resources and other useful information on how to be aware of the signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s.
I also would be very happy to address your concerns or questions in future postings, so please e-mail me at Charlotte Bishop.
Charlotte Bishop is a Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Case Management, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families throughout metropolitan Chicago. Please email your questions to Charlotte Bishop.
