Alzheimer’s disease is something that affects Hispanics more than any other ethnic group. It’s a horrible progressive mental illness that has no cure and the people that suffer the most are not always those with the disease, but the ones that become 24-hour caretakers. This was the case for Rosita Perez whose mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at the age of 60.
Isabel Solero led a normal life surrounded by her kids and husband, she loved to cook, she had a job and everything was fine until her family began noticing some strange behavior. “My mom had 4 kids and she started confusing our names, losing her keys and misplacing things,” explains Rosita Perez. At first, her family didn’t think much of it, but when it became more frequent and even began showing up at school to pick up her grandson at different times, they knew something was wrong.
“My sister made arrangements for her to see the doctor and after he asked her some basic questions, like who the president was, what day of the week it was, what time it was, she failed,” says Perez. Her mom was put on medication, but that didn’t make a big difference. Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease and even though there are medications available, these drugs only help mask the symptoms of the disease but do not treat the underlying disease.
