We are stepping up for dementia awareness
Dementia isn’t just something that happens when people get old. It isn’t part of the inevitability of aging. It is a sinister, progressive condition that takes lives long before the body and soul are ready.
Dementia, or the gradual loss of memory and cognition, can be caused by numerous factors, but our focus is on Alzheimer’s Disease - in particular, early onset (EOAD).
Rhys has tested positive to a rare familial variation that causes EOAD, a gene mutation on PSEN1. According to Dementia Australia, only about 100 people in Australia are likely to be living with a form of familial AD at any one time. While Rhys has been tested as non-symptomatic at the moment, the average age of onset is in the 40s, with many (including close family members) began showing symptoms in their early 30s. He lost his mother when she was 39, and his sister is in the latter stages of the disease at 40.
We are pledging to walk 44km over 2 weeks in May, but this fundraiser is not about physical feats. This is about raising awareness and support for further research into AD. There are some promising trials underway, but so far, any medication or other treatment available is extremely expensive and/or not yet proven. Some may slow progression, but this gene variant is relatively newly discovered, so there is a long way to go.
If you have spare change, we’d love a donation, but there are other ways you can help. Share our link, talk about brain health, learn about dementia in all its forms and how you can support people in your community who are living with a brain that wants to slow down, in a body that has plenty of fight left.
Thank you for your support.
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