Health | November 19, 2008 | 11 comments

When Alzheimer's Hits at 40

source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122661621189526173.html?mod=rss_whats_news_us#articleTabs=ar...

arcticspirit
Brian Kammerer, the 45-year-old chief financial officer of a small hedge fund, called his wife one day from a cellphone in the men's room of his Manhattan office building. A colleague had just asked him for something, he whispered, but he had no idea what it was.
[Brian and Kathy Kammerer] Family

Newlyweds Brian and Kathy Kammerer in 1991

"It clicks and it holds papers together," he said.

"A stapler?" Kathy Kammerer asked.

"I think that's what it's called," he replied.

Soon after that exchange in early 2003, the father of three was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, capping nearly five years of uncertainty and fear about his increasing forgetfulness and difficulty with language.

While most people who get Alzheimer's are over 65, Mr. Kammerer is one of about 500,000 Americans living with Alzheimer's or other dementias at an atypically young age. Alzheimer's takes a long time to develop -- usually, it isn't diagnosed until 10 years after the first symptoms appear -- but more Americans are identifying it early, thanks in part to aggressive screening programs pushed in recent years by groups including the Alzheimer's Foundation of America, a national alliance of caregivers.

The disease can be especially torturous when it creeps up on those in their 30s and 40s. As these patients move through Alzheimer's early stages, they are forced to cope with the dread of not knowing what is happening to them, often in the years when they're raising young children and building financial security. As the disease progresses, there are slip-ups to cover, appearances to keep up. When these "early onset" Alzheimer's sufferers are finally diagnosed, they face hard questions -- whom to tell and when, and what these divulgences mean for their jobs and health insurance.

Overall, an estimated 5.2 million Americans have Alzheimer's, with as many as 10% diagnosed under the age of 65 -- the definition of early onset, according to the Alzheimer's Association, a national research organization. As the population ages, the number of individuals with Alzheimer's is expected to hit 7.7 million in 2030.
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11 comments // When Alzheimer's Hits at 40

  • barbara3d
    • 0
      barbara3d  

    • There are many theories on this disease. But, the final analysis continues to be "we dont really know if it is truly alzheimers until they die and we do an autopsy.

      There are numerous forms of diseases that mimic Alzheimers...organic brain disease, atrophy of white matter due to a LOT of heavy drinking, simple dementia. The best thing to go by is this.

      If you forget something, and you later remember it and take care of it....simple ageing vs dementia.

      If you forget something, and you dont remember you forgot it...probably Alzheimers. My mother has had it for many years...it is truly as Nancy Raegan called it, The Long Goodbye.

    • 3 years ago
  • arcticspirit
    • 0
      arcticspirit  

    • I hope that some of the new discoveries can help recover neuron patterns that will give us access to memories. Its like they just get lost. The data is in there but we can't access it. Kind of like a broken registry in your computer. Missing dll files.

      Says the girl with the Swiss cheese memory. The only advantage is that I can watch re-runs of stuff and be completely surprised!

    • 3 years ago
  • diode
    • 0
      diode  

    • we still have barely any idea how memory truly works, if we can't understand that, how are we supposed to even guess how to fix it

    • 3 years ago
  • pakazak
    • 0
      pakazak  

    • and now we need to wonder what part our 'technologically advanced environment" plays in the numbers of Alzheimer's patients we are seeing.

    • 3 years ago
  • Relevations
    • 0
      Relevations  

    • ..the human body and mind is at best precarious...there are so many factors that can lead to as the Army states...being all that you can be...diet...environmental hazards....genetics...genetics....I like to think of the Human body as a solar powered computer...most people take much better care of their computer than they do their body...and worry more about viruses...and through the marvels of modern medicine...becoming large guinea pigs...humans live a much longer life than ever before...some people think that is progress...I do not..so studies of individuals on any subject are always skewered.....Lincoln said..all men are created equal....I say all humans are programmed differently...some with Love and Kindness...some with hatred....some get to eat properly....many do not...I had much more to say but I just lost my train of thought...Golden Ruler...Johnnie Hargrave....

    • 3 years ago
  • diode
    • 0
      diode  

    • look at the bright side, you get to cuss and flip of kids and get away with it. the bad side would be, you cuss and flip off kids. but hey at least you don't remember it

    • 3 years ago
  • scrschats7733
  • diode
  • lj111
  • scrschats7733
    • 0
      scrschats7733  

    • My grandma has been dealing with the disease for ~7 years now and it is the hardest thing our family has dealt with. They become a totally new person, sometimes not for the better.

    • 3 years ago
  • arcticspirit
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