Hope for Alzheimer's Patients Half of all Americans who are 85 years of age or older may have Alzheimer's disease.
Some experts compare the chance of getting the disease to flipping a coin.
There is no cure for Alzheimer's, but proper treatment can reduce its symptoms, which include memory loss, emotional instability, personality changes, a decline in social skills, and difficulty learning new information. Several drugs are currently being evaluated at The Institute for Alzheimer's Disease at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and other centers to determine whether they will alleviate some of the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. Improvement has been noted in most patients, particularly the behavioral medications, which tend to calm patients without making them drowsy. The symptoms of Alzheimer's disease wreak havoc on family life. More than seven out of ten patients live at home, with 75 percent of their care provided by family and friends.