Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/sufferers-of-early-onset-alzheimers-describe-life-with-the-disease Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Susan Dentzer reports on early onset Alzheimer's -- a degenerative brain disease that affects an estimated 250,000 to half a million Americans -- and how a forum organized by those suffering from the diagnosis has proven an effective means of coping. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. JIM LEHRER: Finally tonight, dealing with Alzheimer's disease at an earlier age. Susan Dentzer reports for our Health Unit, a partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. RICHARD BOZANICH: This is just really rough. SUSAN DENTZER, NewsHour Health Correspondent: Richard Bozanich and Jay Smith spent months planning and preparing. On the big day here in Los Angeles, Bill Bridgwater flew in from Colorado. James Smith and his wife, Juanita, came from Minnesota. And Carol Kirsch and her husband, Howard, drove in from their home nearby.With these and other aging baby boomers present, you might have thought this gathering was about preparing for retirement, launching a second career, or maybe buying that new vacation home. But it wasn't. FORUM SPEAKER: This is the largest gathering of people with dementia in one room in our country. SUSAN DENTZER: In fact, what was billed as the Early Memory Loss Forum was one of the nation's first-ever gatherings of baby boomers with early-onset Alzheimer's disease, organized and led by these Alzheimer's sufferers themselves.Bozanich, who's 49, welcomed the crowd on behalf of himself and co-organizer, Jay Smith. RICHARD BOZANICH: Our motto has always been that this day was by and for persons with early memory loss. So for those of you who are traveling the same road as the two of us, this day is for you. SUSAN DENTZER: It isn't known how many Americans have the early-onset form of Alzheimer's, but estimates range anywhere from 250,000 to 500,000. The cause isn't fully understood, either, although several genetic mutations are implicated in some cases.Meanwhile, it's estimated that 5.1 million Americans now suffer from all forms of the disease, including the type that typically hits people 65 and older. With the population aging, the number of sufferers with all forms of Alzheimer's could more than triple over the next 40 years.We wanted to know more about what it's like to be struck by Alzheimer's in the prime of life, so we sat down for a conversation with this group, all suffering from early-onset Alzheimer's. All have worked with the National Alzheimer's Association and are among the nation's most vocal spokespersons for the urgency of fighting the disease.This diagnosis came along when you all were at the peak of your careers and the peak of your capabilities. BILL BRIDGWATER: Prior to the onset of my Alzheimer's at age 48, I was an information technology executive, and I had held senior-level positions at numerous multibillion-dollar companies. RICHARD BOZANICH: I was managing editor of Daily Variety, which is an entertainment trade publication. JAMES SMITH: I was an information technology director for a Fortune 100 company, a global company. I referred to it as our charmed little life, because everything just seemed to be firing on all cylinders.