About 4.5 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia. And that number is expected to increase to 14 million by year 2050.

Alzheimer's disease is a disease of the brain that often affects family members as well as the patient. It is first noticed in the early stages by the loss of short-term memory. Gregory Kyrouac, director of outreach programs for the Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield explains how the disease affects patients:

SOUND BITE: "They may remember ah what they wore for their wedding, or what they wore for their child's wedding, but they may not remember what they ate for breakfast this morning. . . .Later on Alzheimer disease is ah affects a lot of other areas in the brain and this starts to also affect our longer term memories, but it also can affect our behaviors, especially early on, we'll see people are more withdrawn. . . "

Kyrouac says the biggest risk factor for Alzheimer's disease is age. Studies show that nearly half of the people over age 85 have the disease. There also are some other risk factors, especially for people who get Alzheimer's disease before age 60, such as genetic mutations. As the disease progresses, it becomes increasingly hard on families and caregivers says Kyrouac.

SOUND BITE: "It's not unusual to see family members get depressed over all the caregiving that they have to give, especially if it's a situation where now you're the child taking care of your parent and and that flipped situation. Ah we recommend that family members get involved in an Alzheimer's Support Group or some type of support group, make sure they're reaching out to other people, accepting help when they need to . . ."

If someone you know is suffering from serious memory problems and needs help, contact your family physician or call the Alzehimer's Center at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield at 1-800-342-5748.