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READ NOW: Dublin man with younger-onset Alzheimer’s won’t bow to disease

READ NOW: Dublin man with younger-onset Alzheimer’s won’t bow to disease
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November 4, 2019
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Read the full story at Columbus Disptach

 

By Megan Henry
The Columbus Dispatch
Posted Nov 1, 2019 at 6:45 PM
   
Younger-onset Alzheimer’s is a form of dementia that happens in people younger than 65. The Older Americans Act funds services such as home-delivered meals, caregiver support and transportation to help adults 60 and older live more independently. But some people are getting a younger-onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis before becoming eligible for those services and are left with little assistance, advocates say.
Jennifer Blough updates husband Rod’s weekly calendar on a chalkboard in their kitchen every Sunday.
Rod used to keep track of his time down to the minute when he was the vice president of human resources at Frigidaire Home Products in Dublin, but he now relies on the calendar to help remind him what day it is.
The 61-year-old Dublin resident has two types of dementia: younger-onset (also known as early onset) Alzheimer’s and Lewy body dementia. Younger-onset Alzheimer’s happens in people younger than 65, and Lewy body dementia occurs when protein deposits grow in nerve cells in the brain regions involved in thinking, memory and movement, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Ron was diagnosed with younger-onset Alzheimer’s when he was 58.
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“I feel a clock ticking,” Rod said of how his life has changed since the diagnosis.
About 200,000 Americans under 65 have younger-onset Alzheimer’s, and 5.6 million Americans have Alzheimer’s, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Roughly 220,000 Ohioans are living with Alzheimer’s, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Continue reading the story
 

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