If I were to ask you about Alzheimer’s, what would you say?

You’d probably nod on acknowledgement, since the term sounds familiar and you will probably picture in your head an old person with memory issues. But is that all to the disease? How correct would your appreciation be? And more importantly, do you think you could actually recognise the disease in one of your own?

Neurodegenerative diseases are really complex, and even now, after years of research there still remains a number of questions to be answered. For instance, scientists still do not agree on the cause, and even when there are promising avenues of research aiming at early diagnosis, as of today, the only certain diagnosis comes post-mortem with a brain examination.

On top of that, something that is still missing is a general awareneress on general facts about the disease. Especially when it comes to the bed-side and the extenuating work of caretakers and families of affected patients. For this is a disease that is experienced by the whole family circle, if not by the whole society.

To this end, to increase Alzheimer’s awareness, a new project from the Alzheimer’s Association has been hitting the social media in the last few months. With the hashtag #ENDALZ and #IGOPURPLEFOR has been revolutionazing the internet. Creating awareness and pushing people to show their support for the cause. On their website, there are also personal testimonies of patients, family members, and it has already received the support of known faces from the media, such as actor Dick van Dycke or Seth Rogen, or even the whole cast of Big Bang Theory, which have collaborated dressed in purple, now the official coloir of the Alzheimer cause.

You can also join the march. Share the hashtag on Twitter, take a photo of yourself in purple and say for whom you make it, and most importantly, dedicate if only 5 minutes to learn a bit more about this disease, for you never know when it might knock at your door, and as the saying goes: Information is power!!

Share the power!!