![\"terry\"](\"https:\/\/travels.wohu.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/st\/02\/terry.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWell . . . on March 1, \u00a0I’m setting off on the Southern Tier route from San Diego, CA to St Augustine, FL and I have found a cause – Alzheimer’s disease.<\/p>\n
As many of you know Mary Jean’s mother, Ruth, has suffer from this disease for several years. The vibrant, outgoing, adventurous, sometimes “pushy” woman I first met 17 years ago has turned into a \u00a0shadow of what she once was.<\/p>\n
I think she suffered the It has been a very difficult thing to watch, and live with, but Mary Jean and her brothers have been very strong, loving and very supportive.<\/p>\n And you can be too . . . in the world of Alzheimer’s research.<\/p>\n A few facts about Alzheimer’s:<\/p>\n * An estimated 5.2 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease in 2014,<\/strong><\/p>\n * Including approximately 200,000 individuals younger than age 65<\/strong> who have younger-onset \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Alzheimer’s.<\/p>\n * Almost two-thirds of American seniors living with Alzheimer’s are women.<\/strong><\/p>\n * The number of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias will escalate rapidly in coming years as the baby boom generation ages.<\/strong> By 2050, the number of people age 65 and older with Alzheimer’s disease may nearly triple, from 5 million to as many as 16 million<\/p>\n * More than 500,000 seniors die each year because they have Alzheimer’s. <\/strong><\/p>\n *<\/strong> Alzheimer’s is officially the 6th leading cause of death<\/strong> in the United States and the 5th leading cause of death for those aged 65 and older. It kills more than prostate cancer and breast cancer combined.<\/p>\n * In 2013, 15.5 million family and friends provided 17.7 billion hours of unpaid care to those with Alzheimer’s and other dementias<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 care valued at $220.2 billion, which is nearly eight times the total revenue of McDonald’s in 2012.<\/p>\n * Alzheimer’s disease is the most expensive condition in the nation.<\/strong>\u00a0In 2014, the direct costs to American society of caring for those with Alzheimer’s will total an estimated $214 billion, including $150 billion in costs to Medicare and Medicaid. Despite these staggering figures, Alzheimer’s will cost an estimated $1.2 trillion (in today’s dollars) in 2050.<\/p>\n Thanks,<\/p>\n Ridin’ Rick<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When I rode cross country in 2007, one of our riders, Terry, a water engineer from Great Britain, rode with a cause to raise money for safe drinking water wells in Africa. It was a great idea and I thought if I ever did a big ride again I’d do something like that . . … Continue reading What this ride is all about . . .<\/span> <\/a> most when she was still aware enough to know things were changing but couldn’t understand it all. She is past that stage now.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n