Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an illness of the brain. People with Alzheimer's find it hard to think clearly and often they forget things. Because these are symptoms we associate with old age, many people do not recognise the onset of Alzheimer's.  Many people only really start to discover that Alzheimer's has made someone muddled and forgetful when the person they love starts to lose interest in life, is indifferent to people who care for them, or is unable to cope with everyday tasks and routine. Alzheimer's affects about half a million people in the UK and about 50,000 known cases in Malaysia. Globinmed says that worldwide, there is one new case every 7 seconds. The costs of Alzheimer's to society are enormous. The cost of care for people who cannot care for themselves is very great. But more importantly, this disease causes immense distress as people

When an important politician, business leader or other public figure suffers from Alzheimer's, the cost to society can be calamitous indeed. American President Ronald Reagan suffered from the onset of Alzheimer's in the last years of his Presidency. The President's team went to great efforts to hide the symptoms of the illness from the public. But they could not stop Reagan's many blunders and gaffes from showing. Famously, on one overseas trip, Reagan did not know whether he was in Belgium or Luxembourg. Under Reagan, America lost a lot of respect from people in other countries all around the world.

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Glossary

Calamitous (adj)
an event causing serious damage and harm.

Gaffe (n)
an embarrassing mistake.