“I don’t think she recognizes me and Jim as me and Jim,” he said during a recent visit to Walnut Creek assisted living center in Moraine. “These are just concepts in her head.”
Levy and his son are among 585,000 people who care for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients in Ohio. Those numbers are expected to grow as baby boomers age.
“While every other disease is declining, Alzheimer’s is going through the roof,” said Eric VanVlymen, executive director Alzheimer’s Association Miami Valley Chapter. “It is not just seniors; it ravages the whole family. It is horrendous.”
About 5.3 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
The U.S. population age 65 and older is expected to double by 2030. The number of Americans with the disease is expected to reach 13.5 million by 2050.
There are roughly 230,000 people in Greene, Clark, Miami, Montgomery and Warren counties currently living with Alzheimer’s, VanVlymen said.
That number is expected to reach 250,000 by the year 2025.
Spending skyrockets
Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia among older adults, is nonreversible. It involves parts of the brain that controls language, thought and memory.
Australian scientists are close to a blood test to screen people for Alzheimer’s disease, researchers revealed at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Paris in July.
The disease has no cure, and drugs can only ease symptoms for a time. The total Medicare and Medicaid spending for those with Alzheimer’s disease is expected to reach $130 billion this year, according to the CDC.
Mark Levy said there are economic incentives for drug companies and researchers to search for a cure to the disease.
“There better be a cure,” he said. “This is going to overwhelm society.”
Horrors of the disease
Now 60, Janet Levy was diagnosed with rare early-onset Alzheimer’s in 2005. Among other things, she had trouble driving and couldn’t follow the lines on the street.
“The eyes are working, but the brain just can’t process the information,” Mark Levy said.
There are occasional flashes of the old Janet — she sometimes get a look in her eyes and utters the phrase “it’s you,” but for the most part her memories have faded.
“She recognizes friendliness in the voices and responds to that,” said Levy.
He met Janet at George Washington University’s Madison Hall dormitory. He studied law. She studied art history.
When she fell ill, Janet was planning to return to the arts she loved. She had given up her career to raise their two sons in Oakwood, said Mark Levy, a patent attorney partner at Thompson Hine in Dayton.
Levy said his wife’s family had a slight history of the disease, but it was not something on their radar. The family received support from friends and family and the local chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.
“The disease overwhelms your spouse. It almost affects the caregiver as much as the person with the disease,” he said. “It helps to talk to other people and see what they are going through. You are not alone. This isn’t just you.”
Alzheimer’s is the sixth-leading cause of death in the U.S., and the fifth-leading cause of death for those ages 65 and older.
People fear Alzheimer’s second only to cancer, according to a survey by Alzheimer Europe and the Harvard School of Public Health in France, Germany, Poland, Spain and the United States.
Benefits of early detection
Experts stress the importance of early detection to efforts to understand Alzheimer’s and find its cure, said Dr. Larry Lawhorne, dean of the department of geriatrics at Wright State University’s Boonshoft School of Medicine.
Lawhorne, a member of the local Alzheimer’s Association board, said that it is critical to see a doctor if there are warning signs.
“The really important thing about these warming signs is that it could also mean other things,” he said. “Sometimes we are quick to say that someone has Alzheimer’s when they are just depressed or there are medical side effects.”
Mark Levy and his son Jim, an architect, take turns visiting Janet Levy at the Walnut Creek. She has been there about 6 months. Mark Levy said that he has accepted that caring for Janet is now the reason God put him on this Earth.
“She’s a human being. She’s still a person. She still has feelings,” he said. “I couldn’t abandon her. I couldn’t turn my back on her.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2384 or arobinson@DaytonDaily News.com.
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