The Region - News from Nov. 19, 1986

A computerized registry of Alzheimer’s disease victims was introduced in Los Angeles to help police identify sufferers of the ailment who have a tendency to wander from their homes. The new program will provide Alzheimer’s victims with an identification bracelet that bears their first name, a code number, the words “memory loss” and the telephone number of the Los Angeles Chapter of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Assn. Los Angeles police say the registry will aid its officers who each year come upon nearly 2,000 elderly people who cannot be readily identified. “We make a big thing about missing children,” Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, flanked by association members, told a news conference. “But we have a lot of older people who are missing. This will save us a lot of man hours.” The disease, identified only within the last decade, causes initial loss of memory and eventually results in a complete loss of mental and physical functions.