|
|
Cook County will join more than 600 communities nationwide with two walks to end Alzheimer’s this coming September. The Grand Portage team will walk on Saturday, September 9 and the Grand Marais team will walk on Saturday, September 23, leaving the Hub/Senior Center at 2:30 p.m.
Care Partners of Cook County and the Cook County Council on Aging are hosting both walks. To learn more about the walk in Grand Portage please call the Elderly Nutrition Program at 218-475-3788.
To learn more about the walk in Grand Marais please call (218) 387-3788 or email info@carepartnersofcookocounty.org. A financial goal is to raise $2,000.
Alzheimer’s is a merciless scourge that has affected many families in Cook County and throughout the country.
It is estimated that 6.7 million Americans 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s with seventy-three percent of those 75 years or older and the number is growing as the population ages.
Alzheimer’s affects some groups more than others. Almost two-thirds of patients are women and older black Americans are twice as likely to get Alzheimer’s as older whites. Older Hispanics are about one and one-half times as likely to have Alzheimer’s as older whites. One in nine people 65 and older (10.7 %) have Alzheimer’s.
At the current rate, by 2050 it is estimated that 12.7 million Americans 65 and older will have Alzheimer’s.
Besides suffering memory loss, one in three seniors with Alzheimer’s or another dementia dies from the disease. Alzheimer’s kills more folks than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined.
Alzheimer’s also has a huge effect on family caregivers. Almost $340 billion worth of care is provided by family members and other unpaid caregivers. About 70 percent of caring for someone with dementia is borne by families either through out-of-pocket health and long-term care expenses or from the value of unpaid care.
If you want to see a cure, help fund research by taking part in the walk and raising money. Every dollar helps in the race to end this national scourge.
Leave a Reply