By Christopher Stevens
Advocates for those suffering from Alzheimer”s will be lacing up their shoes Saturday morning Sept. 21 for the annual Memory Walk through downtown Provo.
The Memory Walk is designed to encourage physical activity and create awareness of Alzheimer”s, said Dr. Howard R. Gray, BYU recreation management professor.
“Exercise can forestall the onset of Alzheimer”s and increase one”s mental ability by 20-30 percent,” he said.
It is vital people are educated about Alzheimer”s, said Judy Seegmiller, vice president of the Utah Alzheimer”s Association.
“The huge social stigma surrounding this disease is ignorance,” she said.
Alzheimer”s is an irreversible disease that affects the parts of the brain that control thought, memory and language, Gray said.
There are 29,000 people known to have Alzheimer”s in the state of Utah, Seegmiller said. Since 1975, the number of Americans afflicted has risen from 500,000 to five million, becoming the fourth leading cause of death among adults.
If a cure is not found, the numbers of those who suffer from the disease are expected to triple by the time current BYU students reach age 50, Gray said. The reason for the rise in numbers is attributed to living longer and to leading sedentary lives.
Seegmiller”s husband, Craig Seegmiller died of early onset Alzheimer”s at 55.
Seegmiller has since written a book about Alzheimer”s from the perspective of the caregiver. The book is a journal of the challenging final three years she spent caring for her husband.
Kathy Llewellyn raised the most money of all the volunteers at last year”s Memory Walk volunteers. She said she had to do something to help after she watched Seegmiller, her longtime friend, sell her business and her home to pay the medical bills that amounted over three years.
“Judy lost everything after Craig died because the insurance companies are so unfair,” Llewellyn said.
Neither Medicare nor most private health insurance cover the long-term care most patients need because it is considered custodial care and not medical care because it does not involve medications, Seegmiller said.
The average cost of caring for a person with Alzheimer”s is $174,000.
The Memory Walk raises funds to assist the patients and the caregivers.
“I volunteer because I don”t want to see another person go through what Judy did,” Llewellyn said.
It is the second year the Alzheimer”s Memory Walk has been in Provo. Last year the event raised $5,600.
“I hope to exceed the amount I raised last year,” Llewellyn said.
Those who participate wear a name tag of the person”s name for whom they are walking. Once volunteers finish the walk they place the name tag on the “memory wall,” along with pictures and other memorabilia.
“The memory wall is a pretty touching visual reminder of those who are suffering from the disease,” said Zina Whetten, chairwoman for Memory Walk 2002.
“I see too many elderly suffering from dementia, and I want to be their advocate,” Whetten said.
Seegmiller said the best advice she can give to caregivers is to enjoy the journey and appreciate the honor and humor involved. She said you have to laugh so you are not always crying.
