Alzheimer’s and Its Impact on Women
Maria Shriver Talks About Her New Report on Alzheimer’s and Caregiving
I'm the latter end of the baby boom generation ... this is our epidemic. We've done all these things to make our lives last longer, but not our brains.
We have got to catch up. To live longer but to live without your brain is questionable as to what kind of life that is.
Q: Back to the terror -- how do you deal with that?
A: I'm an advocate. I'm focused. And I try to live a life that is helpful either to finding a cure, rallying people, making it matter. I try to live each day the best I can, make the choices in my life be about something that's meaningful, and try to work as hard as I possibly can to encourage people in power to look at this and help to find a solution. Not just for me but for the millions and millions of other women who are like me and the other families who are like mine -- and who don't have the resources that I do, who don't have the ability to do a report that I do, who don't have a job that allows some flexibility, like I do.
Q: Your dad's 95th birthday is this November. Is he aware of that?
A. No.
Q: That must be hard.
A: Yes. I think the whole thing is hard. That's why I call it mind-blowing. It's blowing the mind of the person who gets it and everybody near them. ... It's a hard disease to explain and to take in every single time you deal with it. It is an emotional challenge, it's a financial challenge, it's a spiritual challenge.
But there is hope, and I think that's the most important thing. And I think the more we talk about it, the more it comes out of the backroom and into the front room.
Spending money on Alzheimer's is not taking money away from something else, because the study of the brain is [bound to] unlock and help lots of other diseases.
Slideshow: When a Loved One Has Alzheimer's
Alzheimer’s and Its Impact on Women
Maria Shriver Talks About Her New Report on Alzheimer’s and Caregiving
I'm the latter end of the baby boom generation ... this is our epidemic. We've done all these things to make our lives last longer, but not our brains.
We have got to catch up. To live longer but to live without your brain is questionable as to what kind of life that is.
Q: Back to the terror -- how do you deal with that?
A: I'm an advocate. I'm focused. And I try to live a life that is helpful either to finding a cure, rallying people, making it matter. I try to live each day the best I can, make the choices in my life be about something that's meaningful, and try to work as hard as I possibly can to encourage people in power to look at this and help to find a solution. Not just for me but for the millions and millions of other women who are like me and the other families who are like mine -- and who don't have the resources that I do, who don't have the ability to do a report that I do, who don't have a job that allows some flexibility, like I do.
Q: Your dad's 95th birthday is this November. Is he aware of that?
A. No.
Q: That must be hard.
A: Yes. I think the whole thing is hard. That's why I call it mind-blowing. It's blowing the mind of the person who gets it and everybody near them. ... It's a hard disease to explain and to take in every single time you deal with it. It is an emotional challenge, it's a financial challenge, it's a spiritual challenge.
But there is hope, and I think that's the most important thing. And I think the more we talk about it, the more it comes out of the backroom and into the front room.
Spending money on Alzheimer's is not taking money away from something else, because the study of the brain is [bound to] unlock and help lots of other diseases.
Slideshow: When a Loved One Has Alzheimer's
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