Hard to Forget: An Alzheimer's Story

About this book

In this remarkable book Charles P. Pierce intertwines two dramatic stories-the scientific race to discover the causes of Alzheimers and the moving experiences of the Pierce family as they struggle with the disease. More than four million Americans develop Alzheimers every year just as Charles Pierces father did-horrifically and genetically-and in Hard to Forget Pierce takes us deep into the country of this disease to explore how it affects both the body and a family. When his father is diagnosed with Alzheimers the author goes on a quest to discover everything he can about the disease. He discusses here Dr. Alois Alzheimers work early in the twentieth century then shows how Watson and Cricks announcement of the double-helix structure of DNA opened up the field of Alzheimers research and led to discoveries by the "genome cowboys"-Dr. Allen Roses Dr. Peter Hyslop and others-of the genetic components of the disease. At the heart of this book too is the powerful emotional story of how the Pierce family coped with Alzheimers and with the threat that the author-and his children-might also inherit it. Elegant and richly informative Hard to Forget is a unique and provocative book.