On the Front Lines Against One of America’s Leading Killers

It took visits to several doctors before anyone noticed that Evelyn Stone had Alzheimer’s disease. By then, it was already too late. Evelyn’s mere forgetfulness had progressed into a more serious cognitive deterioration. Her husband, Jerome, a packaging magnate from Chicago, was astounded by the lack of knowledge about Alzheimer’s, and in 1980, he brought together multiple independent groups of researchers, physicians, and caregivers to better understand the disease. His search was in vain; Evelyn died three years later.

But the cadre of medical experts Jerome Stone had gathered would eventually coalesce into the world’s largest organization working to advance care, support, and research for this devastating disease – the Alzheimer’s Association.

Forty-one years since Jerome Stone founded the association, Alzheimer’s has ascended into one of America’s leading killers. While deaths resulting from heart disease, stroke, and HIV continued to decline, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, between 2000 and 2018, reported deaths from Alzheimer’s jumped by 146 percent. In California, it is now the third leading cause of death, behind only heart disease and cancer.

In the next 30 years, the havoc that Alzheimer’s wreaks on American families and the medical system will only multiply. And there is still no cure for the disease. “What’s really sad is that until we have a cure, Alzheimer’s will be much more prevalent in our lifetime,” says Lindsey Leonard, executive director of the Alzheimer’s Association California Central Coast Chapter. “The system is overburdened with the amount of people that need care. Along the Central Coast, we project we will be helping 3,000 individuals this year.”

While the search for a cure continues, the Alzheimer’s Association remains on the front lines against the disease as the leading authority of information and one of the biggest providers of support groups for patients, caregivers, and people impacted by the disease. It is also the largest nonprofit funding research into Alzheimer’s, investing more than $250 million in 750-plus projects.

And it is racing to find a cure with the same passion and sense of urgency that inspired Jerome Stone to save his wife Evelyn’s life many decades ago.