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VIDEO - HERSTORY: Dear Abby Shares How Alzheimer's Disease Affects A Family

Dear Abby shares the dramatic impact Alzheimer's disease has on a family.

Dear Abby:
Alzheimer’s disease is like a grenade that strikes out the front door, and the impact goes beyond the front door and it affects everybody in that family to varying degrees. There’s nobody in the family who won’t in some way be impacted by what happens. If you love somebody and you watch the deterioration that this disease causes, you cannot help but be affected and the closer that you are, the more severely impacted, now forgive me for using the word wrong, what I should be saying is that it has an impact on the family, but it’s . . . words fail me.

It’s very difficult. It’s difficult for the spouse; many spouses become caregivers. It’s difficult for the child because if they’re close by they’re going to wind up in the caregiving process too and if they are not, they are frustrated by the fact that they can’t be closer, and there’s always the fear that it runs in the family and you’re going to get it eventually too.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/03/25/LI200503...

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