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Even younger people can be afflicted with Alzheimer's (called Early-onset Alzheimer's), and it's even more terrible to witness. It's one thing to watch a human mentally deteriorate when they are at the end of their life, it's another thing to watch it happen to someone in their 40's—who should be in the prime of their life and raising their children.

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Yes. The thing is once you are an Alzheimer's patient, you are doomed because your brain basically stop being able to function at the very end. It's like a death kiss from the above. Unlike cancer, which is scary as hell, and has a high death rate, has better chance of surviving. The pressure on Alzheimer's patient and on the family is just unbearable. While there are some treatments to slow down the progress, we are far from understanding the disease itself, let alone knows how to combat the plaque and tangles effectively. Right now I think one of the best treatments is let patients be more active, whether it's playing chess or gardening, while receiving family support. The more positive we are the better we are overall health wise. This is evident in patients who suffered depression.

>>It's one thing to watch a human mentally deteriorate when they are at the end of their life<<

Alzheimers is terrible to witness at any age - the elderly included. While it's certainly tragic to see in younger people, it's no less tragic to see older people in a state of fear and panic, when they should be enjoying their twilight years.

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