World Alzheimer's Day

Tomorrow, Sunday 21st September, is World Alzheimer's Day. In a press release, the Alzheimer's Association says:

The Alzheimer's Association is encouraging everyone to GO PURPLE on World Alzheimer's Day - Sunday, September 21, 2008.

Every charitable organization has a color associated with it and purple symbolizes the fight against Alzheimer's, a degenerative disease of the brain for which there is no known cure.

"It's easy to GO PURPLE," said Jim Wessler, President and CEO of the Alzheimer's Association, Massachusetts/New Hampshire Chapter. "Use a purple font in e-mails, write using a pen with purple ink, dress in purple, or best yet, tie purple ribbons in your community." Purple ribbons are available free from the Alzheimer's Association. Request yours by sending an e-mail to communications@alzmass.org.

Every 71 seconds, someone develops Alzheimer's. More than 5 million Americans have the disease, including 120,000 in Massachusetts. These numbers will grow dramatically in the coming years as the baby boom generation ages. One in 10 people over 65 and nearly half of those over age 85 have Alzheimer's disease. People with the disease live from 3 to 20 years after the onset of symptoms, making programs such as those offered by the Alzheimer's Association all that more important.

Show your support for the millions worldwide with Alzheimer's and GO PURPLE on World Alzheimer's Day - Sunday, September 21st.

I'd like to encourage all my readers and online friends to support this cause. My mother didn't have Alzheimer's, but she did suffer from a form of dementia before she died: and when I was active as a pastor, one of the most frequent problems I had to deal with was families who didn't know how to relate to a parent who'd developed dementia. Since all of us are living longer nowadays, thanks to the marvels of modern medicine, the incidence of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia among the elderly is growing. We might end up facing it ourselves one day . . . so let's help those working to find a cure for it today.

As one memorial to the day, my posts for this evening will be in purple.

Peter