Is She Still Alice?

Imagine being 50 years old and being diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. Lisa Genova's novel, Still Alice, was the springboard for this evening's lively discussion at our Salon.

After discussing the novel, conversation turned to what would we do if we had it. Would we end our life? Of course, just as depicted in the novel, we wouldn't remember when the time came. We decided that we would have a "Final Salon" at which we would get high on acid and run naked down the street.

Seriously, what a dilemma. When Alice was first diagnosed, she wrote herself a letter detailing how she would commit suicide if she could not answer one or more of the following questions: what month is it, where do you live, where is your office, when is Anna's birthday, and how many children do you have?

When the day arrives that she cannot, she goes to the drawer in her nightstand to get the bottle of pills. But they are not there. Her husband has found them.

In a particularly poignant scene, he comes to the bedroom to find Alice going through the contents of the drawer. He gives her a glass of water and a handful of her regular medications.

He took the empty glass from her and left the room. She lay down on the bed next to the former contents of the drawer and closed her eyes, feeling sad and proud, powerful and relieved as she waited.

Of the seven couples in the Salon only one had a friend with early onset.

This is not so surprising because only a small percentage of all people with Alzheimer's develop symptoms before age 65. Of the 5.3 million Americans with Alzheimer's, 200,000 people have the early-onset form of the disease. Although it can occur in younger people, it is more common in those in their 50s.

We also talked about how the baby boomers will spur research about the disease. In 2011, the first baby boomers turn 65. By 2029, all baby boomers will be at least 65 years old, an estimated 70 million people aged 65 and older.

Let's hope that there is a cure.