Beginning in 2011, the first of the baby boomers will turn 65 and start to unravel in significant numbers. Shenk reveals that those caught in the web of Alzheimer’s have included greats such as the Roman warrior Lucullus, poet Ralph Waldo Emerson and artist Willem de Kooning.

Alois Alzheimer, a German neuropathologist who discovered the disease, died at 51 in 1915 from complications of rheumatic fever. Given that today many of us may live to be 100, that the diseases that killed our great-grandparents have been either wiped out or controlled, we are susceptible to the diseases-in-waiting that are common to the elderly (among them cancers, arthritis, vision and hearing loss, and Alzheimer’s). Forgetfulness increases, and disorientation is common, with seniors in this stage often being confused about time, place, date, day of the week and season. In the final stage of Alzheimer’s disease, most individuals have lost the ability to communicate verbally, although some may retain a few words. A severe physical decline is apparent. The individual will experience a progressive loss of basic physical abilities, including sitting, walking and even swallowing. Muscles become rigid from lack of use, and reflexes are abnormal. There is a disruption in the senior’s diurnal cycle, which can upset sleeping patterns and contribute to disorientation and fatigue.

Alzheimer’s Disease like in many care homes in West Sussex is insidious and, in the beginning, may be quite similar to mild memory loss. But as Shenk points out, while a deterioration of memory is a common consequence of aging, true Alzheimer’s becomes evident as incidents of disorientation and confusion increase. “Eventually the forgetting reaches the stage where it is quite distinct from an absentminded loss of one’s glasses or keys.”