It is important not to lose hope in the face of Alzheimer’s disease, said Patti Davis, daughter of the late President Ronald Reagan, at a gathering of health-care professionals and researchers attending a conference at USC titled “The Many Faces of Dementia: From Prevention to Treatment.”

The third biannual meeting was hosted by a consortium that included the USC Andrus Gerontology Center, the USC Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and the Alzheimer’s Association in an effort to discover and share new strategies and perspectives on fighting Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

The conference focused on emerging treatments, alternative therapies, lifestyle factors and support groups. It also featured a luncheon speech by Davis, who later autographed her book “The Long Goodbye” for attendees.

Reagan suffered from Alzheimer’s disease before he died last year.

“We don’t want people to die like this anymore,” said Davis, who attended the event with the hope to convey the message that the disease can be overcome.

Although there is no cure for Alzheimer’s, researchers have made progress to improve the quality of life of those affected by it, according to Elizabeth Zelinski, dean of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and executive director of the USC Andrus Gerontology Center.

Although “you feel tiny in the presence of a huge disease,” it is important not to lose hope, Davis said, noting that “interactions may be smaller, but you can still communicate” with a loved one who has Alzheimer’s.

Davis also criticized the Bush administration – Laura Bush in particular – for saying publicly to “not give Alzheimer’s patients false hope.”

“Hope is not false,” Davis said. “It just takes hope, sometimes just the hope of one person.”

Despite the large number of people affected by the disease, at least 4.5 million according to the Alzheimer’s Association’s Web site, much of the attention paid to Alzheimer’s is a result of President Reagan’s struggle with the disease.

The “Reagan Factor,” said Alzheimer’s Association Executive Director Peter Braun, is what raised public awareness about Alzheimer’s and is believed to be one of the main reasons that so much attention is still drawn to the disease today.

However, many families will soon need to address the problems associated with the disease as the baby boom generation ages and the health-care system braces for an onslaught of Alzheimer’s cases, Braun said.

Most people with Alzheimer's disease are older than 65 and the average age at diagnosis is 80, according to the Web site for the Mayo Clinic.

“By 2040, almost every household in America will be affected,” said Freddi Segal-Gidan, codirector of the USC/Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center of California.

Deaths from Alzheimer’s are currently on the rise, reaching 58,785 in 2002, a near six percent increase from 2001, according to “Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2002,” a report published by the National Center for Health Statistics.

The treatment, prevention and care of Alzheimer’s were the main focus of the conference and are major goals to accomplish, Braun said.

To allow participants to see how this disease affects each person differently, the conference featured a panel of three couples who are experiencing Alzheimer’s at different stages.

The three couples, Ray and Ruby White, Sid and Nancy Stahl, and Alan and Maryann Wahlner, spoke about their personal experiences with the disease and about their difficult experiences with their diagnosis.

The panelists said their daily lives changed after diagnosis – from being unable to follow the simple plot of a movie, to taking almost a dozen different pills every day.

Their social lives also changed, noted Maryann Wahlner.

“Although our friends aren’t shunning us, they aren’t including us either,” she said.

The Alzheimer’s support groups that they joined provided new friends, all three couples said.

Sid Stahl talked about being in a “confused place” after his diagnosis. Alan Wahlner described his diagnosis as “traumatic.”

Cordula Dick-Muehlke, a friend of Wahlner and executive director of Adult Day Services of Orange County, said she recalled Alan Wahlner saying the disease “fractured” him.

It is important to remember how devastating this disease is for the people affected, Dick-Muehlke said.

The wives on the panel, who also act as caregivers, spoke about how hard it was for them to live with someone with Alzheimer’s.

Some said that major problems inherent in Alzheimer’s are that it is always changing due to continuing nerve cell damage and degeneration.

The difficulty with Alzheimer’s is that it is a “disease we can’t see,” Davis said.

“How do you evaluate when there’s no pain?” asked Alan Wahlner.

The areas of the brain that control memory and thinking skills are affected first, but as the disease progresses, cells die in other regions of the brain and eventually affect every aspect of the body.

If the individual has no other serious illness, the loss of brain function itself will cause death, according to the Alzheimer’s Association Web site.

Despite the growing number of deaths every year due to Alzheimer’s and the unknown origin of the disease, many health professionals see a progression toward finding a cure.

Despite the lack of a cure, researchers believe that it is each individual’s own personal perspective on the disease that makes it bearable.

Those who have firsthand experience with the disease also have advice for individuals and their families suffering from Alzheimer’s.

“Take each day as it comes,” Maryann Wahlenr said.

“Accept things as they are,” said Nancy Stahl. “I’m not looking for something that doesn’t exist.”

“Stop looking back, look forward and concentrate on your strengths,” Ruby White said.

Every year, Alzheimer’s deaths are growing while other major diseases including heart disease and cancer are falling, according to the Center for Disease Control’s Vital Statistics Report.

“There is definitely a need” for a conference like this, said Segal-Gidan, who explained that in six years, the size of the conference has more than doubled and is expected to grow even more in the next two years.

“There is a tremendous force that comes about when people come together for one purpose,” Davis said. “There is no more time to waste.”

The conference was sponsored by the USC Alzheimer’s Disease Consortium and the Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino chapters of the Alzheimer’s Association.