National Alzheimers Disease Month
11/06/2013
Alzheimers Disease and the Caregivers of Alzheimer's Patients Recognized During the Month of November
As a way to recognize all the caregivers of Alzheimers patients and create awareness of Alzheimers disease, November is known as National Alzheimer’s Disease Month and National Caregiver Month. President Ronald Reagan designated November as National Alzheimers Disease Awareness Month in 1983. At the time, fewer than 2 million Americans had Alzheimers; today, the number of people with the disease has soared to nearly 5.4 million. In addition, in the United States, there are more than 15 million Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers. Alzheimers is also called Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer Type (SDAT) or simply Alzheimers. It is a disease. Alzheimers is the most common cause of dementia. The disease produces physical change in the brain. There is shrinking in some areas of the brain. Widening in the others of the brain. These changes cause the connections inside to break and disrupt the brain’s electrical signals. Dementia can also be caused by a variety of other factors, but Alzheimers disease accounts for 50 to 80 percent of dementia cases. How can you get involved? Ways to get involved in National Alzheimers Disease Awareness Month:- Educate your colleagues about Alzheimers Disease
- Encourage friends to wear purple in November
- Host a Purple with a Purpose Event
- Decorate your office or home door purple
- Light your building purple
- Send communications in purple
- Turn your Facebook icon purple
- Hang purple ribbons or a banner on your building or home
- Know the 10 warning signs of Alzheimers
- Chat on the new social networking site ALZConnected.org
- Create an individualized action plan, go to AlzheimersNavigator.org