Alzheimer’s Disease

Re “Not to Twilight, but to Midnight,” Commentary, Jan. 25:

For those of us who have family members suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, the piece by Jenijoy La Belle is a poignant and insightful look into the tragedy befalling the victims of this terrible malady.

My mother has suffered from Alzheimer’s for almost 10 years now and has deteriorated to the point that she no longer speaks or responds to friends or family. As La Belle writes, it is the memories that are the life of a person and when you take away the memories you take away the life. The hardest thing for the friends and family to deal with is the pain of knowing that the life of their loved one is gone but the body is still there to remind us of the loss.

C. D. CUSTER

Huntington Beach

* La Belle’s moving commentary about her mother achingly captured the tragedy of Alzheimer’s disease. It reminded all of us here at the Alzheimer’s Assn. how important our work is to help the thousands of Alzheimer’s patients and family members here in Los Angeles.

Sadly, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s yet, although researchers are getting closer every day. But there is help for care givers like La Belle who must witness the slow, inexorable loss of a beloved parent or spouse.

The Alzheimer’s Assn. is composed mostly of volunteers who themselves have been, or are, care givers. The assistance we provide is invaluable for those confronting the prospect of caring for someone with Alzheimer’s. Help is only a call away.

PETER BRAUN, Executive Director

Alzheimer’s Assn., Los Angeles Chapter