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Alzheimer's support group open to all03/25/13, Mar 25, 2013 (The Morehead News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- There are 80,000 people living with Alzheimer's disease in Kentucky. Many of those are at home with family members caring for their daily needs. Mary Horsley is the clinical trials and telemedicine director at St. Claire Regional Medical Center. She coordinates the Caring and Sharing Alzheimer's support group for Rowan County. "The group has been around since 2005 because it became a personal passion of mine when my mother-in-law was diagnosed with the disease," said Horsley. "I wanted to reach out to people who were caring for loved ones and give them a place for local support." Horsley said that while the group was originally formed for caregivers, it is open to those who have loved ones suffering with any form of memory loss, have lost someone because of Alzheimer's or anyone who just wants more information. "We have grown to about 12 members that continually come to the meetings and I have personally been helped by meeting with those going through similar situations," said Horsley. "Sometimes it is just nice to know that you aren't the only one, we share experiences, have educational materials and it is a time to understand the disease and our loved ones a little more." The group addresses several different aspects of memory loss and learns about Alzheimer's. This month they will be addressing how to assess one's own personal risk and how to care for someone in the late stages of Alzheimer's in two separate meetings. "Memory loss is not necessarily a normal sign of aging, we will be looking at a risk calculator that helps predict likeliness of having the disease, we will discuss brain maintenance and genetics," said Horsley. "This will be on April 1 and we encourage anyone who has a history of family with Alzheimer's to come or if you are just curious and knowing early could help in the long term." The other meeting will be held on April 25 and will be the group's quarterly teleconference with the University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging. "These teleconferences are interactive and allow people to ask questions of several different sources and hear questions from others in their position from all over the state," said Horsley. "It is humbling to see how many people across the state are affected by this." The Sanders-Brown Center on Aging has been tackling memory loss and Alzheimer's since 1979 and Horsley said the research being done there is invaluable. "They are an extremely passionate group of people who constantly research and educate in order to help those suffering and, hopefully, to one day find a cure," said Horsley. "We are lucky to have them participate in these teleconferences and be an active part of this support group." The April 1 meeting will be held at the Center for Health Education and Research (CHER) building at 6 p.m. and the April 25 meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m., also at the CHER building. "It is my hope to one day see an established center for families touched by memory loss or Alzheimer's in this community, where people can get medical consults, social work help and medical rehabilitation because this diseases likeliness is only increasing," said Horsley. Alzheimer's disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States and the only cause of death among the top 10 in the United States that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed. For more information on the Rowan County Caring and Sharing Alzheimer's support group, call Horsley at 783-6476. Shayla Menville can be reached at [email protected] or by telephone at 784-4116. ___ (c)2013 The Morehead News (Morehead, Ky.) Visit The Morehead News (Morehead, Ky.) at themoreheadnews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |