Last night was the first portion of this 4-part documentary (continuing tonight and tomorrow night). It focused on showing what life is like for several Alzheimer's patients and their families at various stages of the disease.
I am fairly close to this disease in the respect that I see real AD patients and their families almost daily. It is an emotionally charged experience when people come face-to-face with such a terrible disease and begin to slowly lose a person (either a loved one or themselves) to a progressive decline of cognitive and functional abilities. Even with my daily exposure to the pain that so many suffer from this disease, I found the show powerfully stirring.
Going forward, this documentary will focus more on the science of the disease and the prospects for better treatment in the future. Because there is such a low level of understanding about Alzheimer's disease, I am encouraging everyone to tune in and watch.
More details are available at the HBO site.
I work with Alzheimer's victims and their families everyday - there are many poignant moments but even more confusion and fear on the part of the families about what to expect. I hope all imaginary readers will tune in to the special. reitrof26
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