Group warns the number of sufferers could double in a generation

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The number of Canadians living with Alzheimer's Disease or a related dementia is expected to double within a generation, warns Alzheimer Society of New Brunswick president Tom Horrocks with the launch of a national campaign to raise funds and support for the society and those with Alzheimer's Disease.

New study findings show Alzheimer's Disease and related dementias "are a rising concern in this country, an epidemic that has the potential to overwhelm the Canadian health-care system if changes are not made today," said Horrocks.

About 500,000 Canadians have Alzheimer's Disease or a related dementia, with 50,000 of these people under the age of 60.

Current estimates predict another 250,000 Canadians could develop Alzheimer's Disease or a related dementia in just five years, and the number could reach 1 million or more in 25 years.

January is Alzheimer Awareness Month with the organization highlighting the findings in its study Rising Tide: The Impact of Dementia on Canadian Society which paints a potentially frightening image of the impact present and future of dementia on Canadian society.

About 15 per cent of all cases are of people under the age of 65, said Alzheimer Society of New Brunswick executive director Chandra Parrott.

"The reality is that the business and industry sectors are also being affected as our boomer generation, a generation of leaders and mentors, are affected by dementia," she said.

The call if for Canadians to do what they can to help turn the tide and ease the impact of the disease, including supporting critical research, lobbying parliamentarians for their support and doing what they can to reduce their own risk, said the organization.

"Every Canadian has a reason to care," said Alzheimer Advocate Jim Mann, who was diagnosed with the disease at the age of 58. "Alzheimer's Disease and related dementias are a tragic reality for a rapidly growing number of Canadian families. The time to act is now."

Dementias are progressive, degenerative diseases that destroy vital brain cells, said the organization. This is not a normal part of aging.

Alzheimer's Disease, the most common form of dementia, accounts for about 64 per cent of all dementias in Canada. Symptoms include a gradual and continuing decline of memory, changes in judgment or reasoning, mood and behaviour, and an inability to perform familiar tasks.

The campaign launch including raising of the flag will be held at 11:30 a.m. today at Moncton City Hall.

* For further information, write to the Alzheimer Society Regional Office, 960 St. George Blvd., Moncton, N.B., call 858-8380 or send an e-mail to alzheimer@nb.aibn.com. The website is www.alzheimer.ca.