This legislation is particularly important to individuals with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. As the disease destroys a person’s cognitive abilities, making informed decisions about care may not be possible. The FHCDA allows family members to make the decisions which respect the wishes of their loved one. It also encourages New Yorkers to make plans in advance, declaring a health care proxy and defining their wishes in writing.

The Coalition of New York State Alzheimer’s Associations, of which the Central New York Chapter is a member, was a longtime advocate of the act’s passage.

Read, listen and watch coverage of the bill signing:

• 17-year quest for end-of-life law yields reform (Albany Times Union)
• Gov. Paterson Signs New Health Overhaul Law (WRVO)
• Paterson signs law allowing medical decisions without proxies (Your News Now)

• WSYR-TV (Syracuse), which focused on Clay caregiver Tami Schanbacher.
• Syracuse.com/Post-Standard (Syracuse), which featured the report in its news and health sections
• The Observer-Dispatch (Utica), which had a lengthy article feature an interview with Saquoit caregiver Patrick Inserra.
• WKTV-TV (Utica), which featured Janice Durant, a caregiver from Oneida Castle. WKTV is a member of the Alzheimer’s Early Detetction Alliance and reporter/anchor Megan Koskovich is a member of our event planning committees.
• WWNY-TV (Watertown), which featured Limerick caregiver Yvonne Thompson and her husband Cecil. WWNY is also an AEDA member and news anchors Brian Ashley and Anne Richter-Ashley are longtime friends of the Chapter.
• News10Now (CNY), which reported the statistics.
• WAER-FM (Syracuse) conducted an interview with Tully caregiver and Chapter volunteer Kris Terrillion.
• The Ithaca Journal and The Press Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton) ran articles summarizing the statistics and the disease impact on the Southern Tier community.

WRVO-FM also taped a lengthy feature with Chapter CEO Catherine James and a 54-year-old Syracuse woman living with Alzheimer’s that will run this week.

We also put the call out to GO PURPLE! on March 9 and are pleased to see as many people as we did wearing purple in support of the cause, as our friends at WKTV and WWNY did. We are also pleased to report that more than 75 people became our friends on Facebook yesterday, a trend we are looking to continue over the coming weeks. If you are on Facebook and haven’t done so already, become a fan of our page. Once you become our friend, make sure to invite your Facebook friends to become part of the cause.

Today’s release of the Alzheimer’s Association’s 2010 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report shows that 5.3 million Americans, including more than 45,800 Central New Yorkers, have Alzheimer’s disease. The report also reveals that African-Americans and Latinos are twice as likely as whites to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

“Alzheimer’s disease is a significant threat not only for the nation, but also for the people of Upstate New York,” said Catherine James, Chief Executive Officer for Alzheimer’s Association, Central New York Chapter. “This disease does not discriminate based on race or ethnicity, nor has it stopped for the recession.”

Disease Prevalence
Based on Alzheimer’s Association studies, 5.3 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease. This figure includes 200,000 individuals younger than age 65.

“Younger-onset Alzheimer’s is a growing concern,” James said. “These individuals are productive members of the workforce and active members of the community and a diagnosis of young-onset Alzheimer’s may mean retiring earlier than they had anticipated, or maybe sooner than they could afford to.”

Using the latest population projections from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Alzheimer’s Association, Central New York Chapter estimates that there were 45,836 people living with Alzheimer’s disease in its 14-county area in 2008. This is a 25.78 percent increase since 2000 and a 4.57 percent jump since 2006.

At 11,818, Onondaga County has the largest population of people with Alzheimer’s disease. Oneida (7,393), Broome (6,362) and St. Lawrence (2,637) follow. Chenango County has seen the largest net increase in people with the disease since 2000. Cases in the Southern Tier county have risen 38.92 percent over the past eight years. Oneida (38.81) and Cayuga (37.16) follow.

Impact of Caregiving
With family members providing care at home for about 70 percent of people with Alzheimer’s disease, the ripple effects of Alzheimer’s disease can be felt throughout the affected person’s entire family. According to Facts & Figures, caregiving is a $9.4 billion industry in New York State. In 2009, 720,796 caregivers, provided 820,842,714 hours of unpaid care for a loved one with Alzheimer’s or another dementia valued at $9,439,691,215. Only California and Texas have larger caregiving populations than the Empire State.

The economic downturn’s impact on caregiving is noted in a National Alliance Caregiving study cited in Facts & Figures. The survey shows 24 percent of family caregivers report cutting their expenses related to care. Of the 13 percent forced to increase caregiving expenses, the majority reported difficulty in paying for their own needs (65 percent) or saving for retirement (63 percent). Facts & Figures also reveals that more than 40 percent of family and other unpaid Alzheimer and dementia caregivers rate the emotional stress of caregiving as high or very high, compared with 28 percent of caregivers of other older people.

“The latest Facts & Figures report shows the significant impact of Alzheimer’s disease on the individual, the family, and state and federal government,” James said.

Special Report on Race, Ethnicity and Alzheimer’s Disease
Although whites make up the majority of the more than five million people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, African-Americans and Latinos are at higher risk for developing the disease. African-Americans are approximately two times more likely and Latinos are approximately one and one-half times more likely than whites to develop a form of dementia. There are no known genetic factors that can explain the greater prevalence of Alzheimer’s, however some conditions related to ethnicity may increase the risk. High blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes, which are known risk factors for Alzheimer’s and other dementias in all groups, are more common among African-Americans and Latinos than in whites.

“The Alzheimer’s Association  is committed to increasing awareness about risk factors for Alzheimer’s and other dementias among all Americans,” said James. “Our programs and services team interacts regularly with Alzheimer’s disease in the African-American and Latino communities.”

Although African-Americans and/or Latinos are more likely than whites to have Alzheimer’s and dementia, they are less likely than whites to have a diagnosis of the condition. Delays in diagnosis mean that African-Americans and/or Hispanics are not getting treatment in the earlier stages of the disease when treatments are most effective and they also miss the opportunity to make legal, financial and care plans.

“Early detection, diagnosis and intervention are vital because they provide individuals the best opportunities for treatment, support and planning for their future,” said James. “We know many families miss the warning signs or mistakenly assume symptoms are a normal part of aging. The Central New York Chapter has worked hard to educate our community about those signs that may actually be cause for concern and warrant medical follow up.”

Since 1982, the Alzheimer’s Association has led the fight to defeat this disease. We are the only organization in American providing support to families touched by Alzheimer’s and funding the research that will lead to a cure.

On March 9, we are asking you to Go Purple! to bring awareness to our cause. It’s easy to do:

• Wear a purple article of clothing.
• Change the color of your e-mail signature to purple for the day.
• Light a candle at our Virtual Rally.
• Register for Memory Walk.
• Become an advocate.
• Subscribe to alzmail
• Encourage your friends, and Facebook and Twitter followers to do the same.

You play an important role in heightening the community’s knowledge of Alzheimer’s disease and our cause.

Thank you for all of your hard work!

Make plans to join us on Saturday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m. as the Crunch take on the Amerks, their AHL rivals from Rochester. Tickets are $15 with special ticket packages available. A 10-ticket pack is $140 and includes scoreboard recognition, while 20 tickets are $260 and include scoreboard recognition and a game program insert. A portion of the ticket cost will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Association, Central New York Chapter.

We will also have a table on the concourse, where we will sell raffle tickets and distribute information. Let’s pack our section in 2010!

To be part of our section, you can’t just buy tickets at the window or online. You must contact the Syracuse Crunch at (315) 473-4444 x25 to place your order. Your tickets will be mailed directly to you. Remember to mention that you are part of the Alzheimer’s Association’s group!

Alzheimer’s Association staff, people with the disease and Alzheimer’s caregivers all made pleas to legislators from throughout New York State to preserve funding for our programs and advance a Silver Alert Bill–an Amber Alert-like system to assist the return of people with Alzheimer’s disease who wander from home.

If you were not able to join us but want to make your voice heard, register online to become an advocate. We provide all of the resources you need to make an impact. All you have to do is provide the voice.

Alzheimer’s Association, Central New York Chapter staff and volunteers will sell tickets to the event February 11-13 at Sangertown Square. Every ticket purchased for the event — April 9, 2010, from 7-10 p.m., at Valentino’s Banquet Hall in New Hartford — at the mall earns a chance to win limousine transportation to and from the event, courtesy of Adonis-Avanti Transportation.

Tickets are $50 for general admission and $75 for a VIP ticket and can be purchased by phone at 315-617-4025 x117 or online at www.alzcny.org. General admission tickets only are for sale at Curves fitness centers in Herkimer, Little Falls, New Hartford and Utica. Guests who purchase a ticket at a Curves location will receive a free aqua massage from Body Solutions Salon & Spa in Whitesboro.

A Night to Remember is aimed at pampering local women, who sacrifice spending time on themselves as they juggle busy personal, family and professional lives. It features local therapists and aestheticians providing massages, manicures and other services. Businesses, including jewelers, artisans and clothing shops, will display their products to the more than 250 people expected to attend. A new VIP ticket level offers exclusive benefits, including one-hour of early access to exhibitors and activities, a special food and wine pairing and VIP gift. The event is presented by Brookdale Senior Living Clare Bridge Clinton and Villas Sherman Brook. Last year’s event attracted nearly 200 people.

DiCosimo, who is also the chair of the music industry department at Syracuse University’s School of Visual and Performing Arts, was the primary caregiver for his father during his journey with Alzheimer’s disease. With his father’s passing in 2007, DiCosimo put his group on hiatus. Three years later, the group reformed, recorded and released “Threads.” The album, released just after the New Year, is dedicated to DiCosimo’s father.

DiCosimo (pictured at right) highlighted three tracks from the album for us. The first song, “Gone From This World,” speaks some about his father, but more to the greater picture of looking into the mirror and helping your fellow man. The title track, and its Spanish version “Hilos,” are written specifically in his father’s memory. DiCosimo said the tracks were his way of expressing the anguish of watching his father’s descent and passing from Alzheimer’s.

Proceeds from the sale of Threads will benefit the Alzheimer’s Association, Central New York Chapter. The album is currently available for download on iTunes and Amazon.com. CD’s or downloadable versions are available at CDBaby.com.

Take a look back with us online as we celebrate our past.

This entire project started with a basic need–better tools for food preparation for the participants of the Kirkpatrick Day Program–and grew to a multi-day renovation. The December event was the icing on the cake.

Take a look back in time with us at the progression of the project:

• Kitchen Renovation Update
• The Calm Before the Storm
• Thursday Morning Renovation Update
• Thursday Afternoon Update
• Friday Morning Update
• Friday Midday Update
• Late Friday Update
• Saturday Update
• Before and After…
• Renno Wrapup
• Cutting the ribbon (with video)