Typically, Alzheimer's appears when people are in their mid- to late 70s and 80s. By age 85, there's a one in three chance of getting Alzheimer's disease, Lyketsos said. If you are between 65 and 75, there is a less than 1 percent chance. Early-onset Alzheimer's is even rarer. In Maryland, the Alzheimer's Association estimates there are just 3,200 people with early-onset Alzheimer's and another 5,000 or so with premature dementia.
"I've heard it said that Alzheimer's kills the brain of the patient and the heart of the family," said Carol Wynne, a nurse practitioner who runs an Alzheimer's Association support group for families dealing with early-onset disease. "It's very hard to watch - and as a society, we aren't set up to deal with them."
Kent Bugg and Dorothy Frohder met in 1982, on Halloween night when she was dressed in a homemade pumpkin costume and he was just dressed. He was a 22-year-old part-time college student and trucking company worker, and she was a 32-year-old high school guidance counselor in Georgia.
Despite their age difference, Bugg was drawn to care for her even back then, taking her out for a steak dinner on their first date. "I thought she was so skinny she needed meat on her bones," he recalled. Five years later they were married. They filled their lives with friends and family and work and travel. By day, Frohder became more and more accomplished at work, even spending a year running the guidance department for the Prince George's County schools. In her spare time, she would do exquisite needlepoint and crochet work.
Until she could do none of those things anymore.
In the spring of 2007, when she went to an annual checkup, the nurse noticed something amiss as Frohder tried to get out a word but could not. The doctor was concerned, too. She sent her patient to see a neurologist. He ordered an MRI and did some simple mental and memory tests. He diagnosed Frohder with Stage 1 Alzheimer's disease.
"I was dumbfounded," Bugg said. "It was hard to speak."
A year later, another doctor told them she had more advanced Stage 2 disease, her condition clearly deteriorating.
"This is happening too quickly," Bugg said. "Time is not on our side. It's our biggest enemy."
For now, Dorothy doesn't seem like an Alzheimer's patient. Her blond hair shows only hints of gray, her pale skin just beginning to show wrinkles. She gets around with ease, strong enough to help rake leaves in the backyard.
