AS ALZHEIMER'S SIGNS HIT BOOMERS, MANY FIND NO TIME TO WASTE.

Byline: DANA BARTHOLOMEW

Staff Writer

Two years ago on Christmas Eve, Wendy Harrison made detailed plans with her husband to redecorate their Encino home.

By Christmas morning, she couldn't recall the conversation. Within months, the take-charge mother grew confused. Short of words. Unable to keep appointments.

Harrison was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's, joining the growing ranks of baby boomers with a disease more commonly associated with seniors.

"It's a little scary," said Harrison, 54, in a flat halting voice, her brown eyes filling with tears as she clutched her husband's hand. "I would like to get back to doing things I enjoy.

"I would like to drive. I can't go anywhere. I don't want to be an Alzheimer's."

Ten years ago, those like Harrison younger than 65 weren't even treated for Alzheimer's. But with new drugs and earlier diagnoses, there are now 200,000 with the early-onset form of the disease -- a number expected to triple in the next four decades as baby boomers age, according to the Alzheimer's Association.

Today, many of them will attend the first memory-loss forum in the nation put on for -- and by -- those in early stages of the disease.

Those at the sold-out "Living Our Lives, Planning Our Futures" symposium at the Skirball Cultural Center realize time is running out.

Some will know the frazzled attention spans, the cluttered affairs, the spotty initiative and the loss of short-term memory of those sliding into dementia. Many, like Harrison, had been linchpins of their families. Others were in the prime of their professional careers.

But most can, for now, think clearly enough to navigate and speak out for their own futures.

"This is the new face of Alzheimer's disease," said Peter Braun, president of the Alzheimer's Association California, Southland chapter. "They have nothing to lose. And they're not going to take it anymore."

500,000 boomers

Of the nation's 76 million baby boomers, an estimated 500,000 have early-onset Alzheimer's or other dementia.

And as the post-war generation ages, so does the risk of memory-loss disease. Today, 5.1 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's. By 2050, they are expected to swell to 16 million.

Of those, up to 5 percent are expected to have early-onset, which often runs in families.

"It's a huge problem," said Dr. Gary W. Small, director of the UCLA Center on Aging, a speaker at today's conference. "As baby boomers get older, they're in the age of risk.

"It's really sad, because in their milder states, people are aware of their condition."

To help them are new tests to aid diagnoses, as well four new drugs that can slow the mental decline. There are also a growing number of "memory clubs" or support groups, as well as advocates with Alzheimer's who make their voices heard.

Showing symptoms

Nine years ago, Jay Smith was one of the state's top architects of courthouses, police stations and prisons, including the Lynwood jail, now known as the "Paris Hilton."

But then he began to lose his balance. He bumped into furniture. Stumbled over words. And experienced a general "mind fog."

He grew more and more tired and struggled to meet deadlines. He thought he had a brain tumor. After an MRI, he was told he had migraines. Then mild sleep apnea.

A year after he went on disability, he was diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer's.

"I remember as early as '95 of being fearful of being found out," said Smith, now 69, of Los Feliz. "The ticker wasn't working as well as it should be."

Taking action

Now he tells everyone of his condition. And like many boomers, he didn't take the disease lying down.

He joined an early-stage Alzheimer's support group at California State University, Northridge, one of the first in Los Angeles.

A vegetarian, he took up meditation. He picked up the mandolin. He joined a chorus. He spent more time with his wife, Marilyn, and their adult children.

He then paired up with an early-onset friend, 50-year-old former newspaper reporter Richard Bozanich, to organize the early memory loss forum.

"Empowerment? You bet," said Smith, who takes three types of drugs, plus nutritional supplements, to control his condition. "This thing kicked me in the rear, and I was able to take my life back, with real focus and commitment to my wife, my children and my friends. It's been a blessing."

At a recent support group of memory club graduates at the Alzheimer's Association's CSUN office, 10 couples shared the blessings, and curses, incurred by a disease that usually took years to diagnose.

Or a disease whose stigma could take years to reverse, like that of the c-word -- cancer.

"It's tough," said one woman with Alzheimer's. "If I didn't have my husband, I'd probably die."

Another man likened his wife's declining condition to a sinking boat. "This catastrophe has really brought out my love for her and her love for me," he said. "In the morning, when she's getting ready, I get so frustrated I could cry."

Early-onset can affect parents who are losing their car keys while their children are learning to drive. It can affect parents losing their jobs while their children are attending college. Or it can snuff out the lifelong dreams of retirement with a much beloved spouse.

"It's devastating," said Jennifer Watson, a neuropsychologist who founded the city's first memory-club groups in 2001 in Granada Hills. "It impacts the whole financial foundation of the family, often in your peak earning years."

"They're more difficult to help because they're young, they don't qualify for Medicare, it's harder to get them on disability," added Jill Brink, clinical manager of the association's early-stage program at CSUN.

For the Harrisons, the disease means no time to waste.

They'd planned to add a room to their house in five years. After Alzheimer's, it's already done.

They'd always talked about going to Italy. After Alzheimer's, they traveled there last year.

Wendy Harrison, who once had a cutting wit, had planned most social events for her family and friends. Now they're planning them for her.

"It brings your life into focus," Craig Harrison, 55, said. "What this has done, from my perspective, is it has compressed time.

"We're trying to do something new in L.A. every week -- we're going to the zoo, we're going to Disneyland a few times. We find time to spend together, with each other."

dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com

[phone]

Information

For more information on Alzheimer's disease, call the Alzheimer's Association at [phone], or go to alz.org/californiasouthland.

What to look for

Warning signs of Alzheimer's disease

Memory loss

Difficulty performing familiar tasks

Problems with language

Disorientation to time and place

Decreased judgment

Problems with abstract thinking

Misplacing things

Changes in mood or behavior

Changes in personality

Loss of initiative

Source: Alzheimer's Association

CAPTION(S):

photo, 2 boxes, map

Photo:

Wendy Harrison, 54, with her husband, Craig, is among a growing number of boomers with early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

David Crane/Staff Photographer

Box:

(1) Information (see text)

(2) What to look for (see text)

Map:

Alzheimer's toll on population

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