Five percent of individuals will have early onset Alzheimer’s, also known as younger-onset which affects individuals in their 40s and 50s.

As the fastest ageing region within Latin America, the Caribbean Hispanic Islands of the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Cuba have had sharp increases in dementia cases within the last decade.

In the United States of America, approximately 5.8 million persons are living with this disease. The experts have predicted that the number of cases could double every five years beyond the age of 65 and the figures are expected to triple to 14 million persons by 2060. 

Signs associated with this disease include: memory loss which causes disruption to ones’ daily life, getting lost in familiar areas, repeating questions, problems handling money or paying bills as well as the inability to finish daily task at home, work or leisure.

Other changes include: diminished judgement, misplacing things and been unable to retrace steps to find them, changes in mood, personality, or behaviours. The foremost signs of the disease is mild memory loss that often progresses to more serious symptoms such as those described above.

Alzheimer’s disease affects the area of the brain which control thoughts, memory and speech. For those suffering with the disease, daily activities become impaired where even doing a simple tasks becomes too difficult. 

Symptoms associated with this disease generally appears after age sixty then as the person ages it intensifies. It is at such time that family support becomes critical, Alzheimer’s continues to perplex scientist who are still unable to define its cause.  

Do you know someone, it could be a loved one, family member, or a friend whose personality is gradually changing? That person can no longer remember recent events? Is incapable of conversing with you on recent event s but can speak of things that occurred even before you were born? The condition is called Alzheimer’s disease.

After a while, those individuals may not recognise you then, later as the disease progresses they could become quite aggressive and violent. Walking away from home, never to be found alive is also a scary reality of this disease. Several persons in Antigua and Barbuda are known to have walked away; many have never been found.

The greatest risk factor linked to Alzheimer’s disease is age, with family history being another major factor. Researchers are of the view that genetics too can be involved in someone getting Alzheimer’s disease.

There are two large, long-term studies pointing to the fact that adequate physical exercise, a nutritious diet, limited alcohol consumption and avoid smoking may be helpful in preventing the development of Alzheimer’s disease.