The Member for Miramichi, New Brunswick, Tilly O’Neill-Gordon, wishes to point out that January is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. 

As part of Alzheimer Awareness Month, the Alzheimer Society is using the study, “Rising Tide: The Impact of Dementia on Canadian Society”, to highlight the fact that over 71,000 Canadians with Alzheimer’s disease and related conditions are under the age of 65.

“This is a horrendous disease that we still have very few tools to combat. It afflicts an alarming number of people every year, and affects not only the patients themselves but their families as well,” pointed out Ms. O’Neill-Gordon. 

About 15% of people who are currently afflicted with Alzheimer’s or a related condition are under the age of 65. This is placing a heavy burden on our health and social services systems, notes Scott Dudgeon, CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Canada. The reality is that businesses and industry are also affected since baby boomers, a generation of leaders and mentors, are among those afflicted with these neurodegenerative diseases.

“We are all affected by this disease, wherever we are in Canada, including my own riding of Miramichi. No one is left unscathed. The fact that 72% of those with the disease are women is especially startling,” added the MP.

These figures are of grave concern to the Alzheimer Society of Canada, which views the incidence of the disease as frightening. According to Alzheimer Society figures, the number of people with the disease could more than double in the next two decades, rising from 500,000 to 1.3 million people.

These new projections serve to underline the fact that Alzheimer’s disease and related conditions are a growing concern for Canada.

“The numbers are alarming, which is why as many people as possible must be made aware of the disease. Perhaps we can then improve the outlook for the years to come,” concluded Tilly O’Neill-Gordon.