Memory Loss Affecting Our Older Generation

Article submitted by Kathleen Ullo, Director of Sales at Luther Village in Arlington Heights.
For more information, she can be reached at 847-506-1919.

Studies show that one in two seniors 85 and over suffer from some form of dementia. By 2050, 12 to 15 million people could suffer from Alzheimer's Disease. However, in 1997 the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center and Rush Institute for Healthy Aging launched a comprehensive research program, "Memory and Aging Project," led by Dr. David Bennett to find a way to learn about this feared disease. Through the generosity of grants, primarily from the National Institute on Aging and volunteers, there is hope for those people afflicted by Alzheimer's Disease (AD).

As our age progresses it is common to become forgetful. Dementia is loss of thinking ability caused by older age. Alzheimer's is a form of dementia that is a much higher state of memory loss.

People lose memory for several reasons such as Alzheimer's, strokes, and Parkinson's disease. Persons with stress, depression, diabetes, MS, osteoporosis, arthritis, a head injury, poor eyesight or hearing may be at more risk for the AD.

According to Bennett, "AD is the disease of our times, just as polio, scarlet fever, and pneumonia were killer diseases before the discovery of antibiotics in 1941. More recently, the discovery of treatments for heart disease extended life expectancy beyond mid-life." In fact, life expectancy has increased by more than 30 years in the last half century.

"When we were kids, we are sponges. By the time we are 25 or 30 years old, it becomes increasingly harder to learn new things. This is normal. However, AD is characterized by having trouble forming new memories, eventually advancing to a state where memories disappear. In the final stages of AD, sufferers may even forget functions such as walking, talking, etc.," says Bennett.

Luther Village in Arlington Heights is the top participant and supporter of the Rush research program. One hundred twenty young and healthy seniors from Luther Village have committed to volunteer for the study.

Resident, Alice Sulser, volunteered for the program over three years ago. "I am so glad they [Rush] chose Luther Village [to request volunteers for the study]. It is such a wonderful program and I am glad to be a part of it."

Yearly cognitive and physical function tests, clinical evaluations and blood draws are conducted onsite at Luther Village and other retirement communities across the Chicago area to track changes in the volunteers. The clinical research is followed by pathological research through the study of the volunteers' brains that have been prearranged for donation to the study upon their death. The result will lead to new treatments. More than 10,000 clinical evaluations have been conducted in the past two decades through this program.

"People who keep themselves mentally, socially, and physically active, testing medication and staying involved in the community can slow the process of Alzheimer's. Medical research and volunteers are the only way to prevent the disease," Bennett says.