In my first semester at the University of Massachusetts my father was diagnosed with FTD (Frontotemporal dementia), a neurological disease similar to Alzheimer’s disease. It took my family and his doctors a long time, and a couple of misdiagnoses to find out what was wrong with him.

He had started acting strangely around my freshman year of high school; he would think people were following him, repeat the same stories over and over, he bought silly things impulsively and he began to lose the determination and focus that defined him. As a result of his strange behavior he lost his job as a social worker.

His psychiatrist and primary care doctor diagnosed him with depression and bipolar disorder to try and explain the weird behavior, but either the medication he was given or the progression of the disease only produced different symptoms. Instead of being paranoid and restless, he became lethargic and unresponsive, lying in bed most of the day. His only responsibility for the day became driving me to school.

I became frustrated and angry with him. Where was the man who ran marathons and worked tirelessly to help those in need? Where was my Dad? It pains me to admit that I lost respect for him. I thought he was being lazy and just needed a boot in the ass to get going again.

I was wrong.

While taking a trip to visit his family in upstate New York my father ran out of gas on the highway and pulled over to the side of the road. The police found him and said he was acting “confused,” so they took him to the hospital to run some tests. The hospital in New York performed a CT scan which confirmed significant atrophy (cell death) in his brain’s frontal lobe, which is often referred to as the seat of the personality.

When he was brought home my mother took him to the neurologist who diagnosed him with FTD, a form of dementia affecting the frontal and temporal lobes which causes the victim to become apathetic, lethargic, socially inappropriate and lose the cognitive skills to plan and organize. However, his most recent MRI showed atrophy similar to an Alzheimer’s patient, so his neurologist changed his diagnosis to a frontal variant of Alzheimer’s disease, but said the difference between FTD and his form of Alzheimer’s was “academic.”

I write this column as a warning, someone you know and love will probably be stricken with some form of Alzheimer’s if they haven’t already. It could be your grandparent, your aunt or uncle, your friend, your parent and maybe even you.

The aging baby boom population is at high risk of getting the disease. According to the Alzheimer’s Association’s 2010 facts and figures, 5.3 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease and this number will only continue to grow. In Massachusetts alone the percentage of people with Alzheimer’s over age 65 will jump 17 percent from 2000. Miniscule compared to other states, Idaho is looking down the barrel of a 100 percent increase and Alaska a whopping 126 percent. And this data doesn’t even include the numbers for early onset cases like my father’s, who was diagnosed when he was 60 but showed signs of deterioration three to four years before.

This is not just an issue for families like my own; this is a public health crisis that will affect every American. As of 2006 Alzheimer’s disease was ranked seventh for causes of death in the U.S. and fifth for deaths of people over 65. The disease costs the U.S. and its citizens $17.2 billion annually and of course this number will rise sharply as more people are diagnosed with the disease in coming years. According to Texas Alzheimer’s research consortium, it is projected that by 2050 11 to 16 million Americans will have Alzheimer’s disease barring any medical breakthroughs.

These numbers do not only affect those afflicted with the disease. It takes a financial and emotional toll on the caregivers. As of 2010 there are 10.9 million unpaid caregivers. And I can tell you from experience being a caregiver that it is not an easy job. Even though my father is still in the mild stages he has to constantly be watched, or else he will get into trouble. He likes to take walks to pass his time, and one day early this semester he decided to pull the fire alarm down the street from our house – three times. As a result my mother had locks put on the doors, so the only way to get out of my house is through the use of a key.

Luckily, there are adult day health centers that my father can go to during the day in our area and my mother, brother and my friend’s mother take turns watching him in the afternoons and Sundays. People living in rural areas may not have this luxury of having resources available to help share the load.

Steps need to be taken through health care reform and medical practices to better detect Alzheimer’s and other forms of neurological diseases early. Also, there needs to be more intermediary institutions between the patient’s home and the nursing home.

But most importantly, we need to find a cure.

The best defense against diseases like Alzheimer’s is to keep learning, and I don’t mean just attending class. Active learning, the process of concerted effort to learn a new skill, has been shown to help prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. No wonder less people with advanced degrees have less of a risk of developing Alzheimer’s than the rest of the population.

This issue is deeply personal for me, and I hope no one close to you becomes afflicted, but unfortunately, Alzheimer’s disease will probably afflict your life in some way. Educate yourself; learn the risk factors and you will be better prepared to face Alzheimer’s disease if it does come to claim your loved ones.

Bobby Hitt is a Collegian columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].