About the Greater Richmond Chapter Greater Richmond Chapter Alzheimer's Disease Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, degenerative disease of the brain resulting in impaired memory severe enough to interfere with everyday life.
Problems remembering recent events and difficulty performing daily tasks are early symptoms.
Alzheimer's disease progresses in stages over the years gradually destroying memory, judgment, language, and eventually leaving persons with Alzheimer's totally unable to care for themselves. An estimated 4 million Americans and over 100,000 Virginians have Alzheimer's. It affects 10 percent of people over 65 and 50 percent of those 85 and older and can occur in persons in their 40s and 50s. A person with Alzheimer's will live an average of eight years and may live 20 years or more. In addition to the person afflicted with the disease, Alzheimer's also greatly affects the person's family.