"He and his younger brother were diagnosed about the same time, and for seven years, I watched my dad and my uncle slowly wither away. On August 22, 1996, my father turned 43. A friend drove me to the nursing home to take him balloons and wish him happy birthday. I struggled with my faith as a young teenager but on that day, I prayed to God for my father's death."
"He died two months later at the age of 37. After his death, we began to do some research and discovered DIAN or the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer's Network. They helped us determine that our family carries the PSEN1 gene, and we enrolled in an observational study at Washington University in St. Louis."
Carrie Salter-Richardson's father received a diagnosis of dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease at 36. He and his younger brother deteriorated over seven years, and Carrie witnessed their decline. On August 22, 1996, Carrie visited her father in a nursing home, prayed for his death, and he died the next day. Family silence persisted until 2009 when a relative reported an oldest cousin's diagnosis and rapid decline; he died at 37. The family researched genetic causes, found membership in DIAN, confirmed they carry the PSEN1 mutation, and enrolled in an observational study at Washington University in St. Louis.
Read at Cbsnews
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