The Alzheimer's Project

Season 12009

Alzheimer's disease is the second-most-feared illness in America, after cancer. Is our anxiety justified? HBO presents this multi-part campaign that looks at the causes, symptoms, treatments and possible cures for this insidious disease.

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5 Episodes

E01 Caregivers

This verité documentary profiles seven people living with the disease, each in an advancing state of dementia, from its earliest detectable changes through death. "We wanted to capture a sense of what it was to be inside the disease," explains Shari Cookson. "Our plan was to show the progression of the illness through several stories along the way." But as Nick Doob points out: "There's nothing clear cut about it. The course of the disease is different from person to person." Adds Cookson: "They say if you've seen one person with Alzheimer's...you've seen one person with Alzheimer's."

May 10, 2009

E02 The Memory Loss Tapes

There are currently 10 million Americans providing 8.5 billion hours of unpaid care to people with Alzheimer's disease or other dementias, according to an estimate from the Alzheimer's Association. Seventy percent of people with Alzheimer's live at home, cared for by family and friends. As Bill Couturié explains: "Not only is it very expensive to pay for care in a nursing home, but the patient is someone you love a lot - a mother, father, spouse. Someone who has taken care of you, and so it's only natural to want to take care of them." Alzheimer's can take a great toll on the physical and emotional well-being not just of the patient, but of the caregiver as well. "It's not uncommon for the caregiver to die before the patient. It's a 24/7 job and often the caregiver has no help.

May 10, 2009

E03 Grandpa, Do You Know Who I Am?

This film tells five stories of children, ages 6-15, who are coping with grandfathers or grandmothers suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Maria Shriver provides commentary and delivers valuable "lessons" for the kids, urging them not to blame themselves for what their grandparents do or say. "We are all children of Alzheimer's," says Shriver, sympathetically making it clear that "if it's too painful to visit, you don't have to go."

May 11, 2009

The Alzheimer's Project

E01 Caregivers

E02 The Memory Loss Tapes

E03 Grandpa, Do You Know Who I Am?

E04 The Alzheimer's Project: Momentum in Science (Part 1)

E05 The Alzheimer's Project: Momentum in Science (Part 2)

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Dopesick

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Freakish

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Life Sentence

WWE NXT

Deceptions

Ulice

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The Pact

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E01 Caregivers

E02 The Memory Loss Tapes

E03 Grandpa, Do You Know Who I Am?

E04 The Alzheimer's Project: Momentum in Science (Part 1)

E05 The Alzheimer's Project: Momentum in Science (Part 2)