The Walk to End Alzheimer’s is coordinated by the Alzheimer’s Association. They are a national nonprofit that provides education, care and research advancement towards the disease, according to their website.
More than 600 communities across the U.S. will be coordinating local walks through the months of September and October, with just under 20 walks taking place across Missouri. It is free to participate in a walk, but donations are encouraged as a way to raise funds for care and research.
Springfield’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s will take place at 10 a.m. on September 27 at Jordan Valley Park. Registering online is encouraged, or registration at the walk starts at 8:30 a.m. Over 500 people are currently registered for the walk, and that number is expected to double.
Julie Milbauer is the senior manager for the walks in Springfield, Joplin and the Lake of the Ozarks. She said the walks are emotional and impactful, but they also offer fun activities during the event as a way to create a positive and hopeful environment for participants.
“There’s lots of things to do, all while supporting the people who are living with this,” she said. “It really fills your heart.”
Milbauer said that about 122,000 people are living with dementia in the state of Missouri. The amount of caregivers caring for someone with dementia in Missouri is double that number, according to Milbauer, which is why support for the disease is so crucial.
Alzheimer’s disease is a type of dementia — the general term for a loss of memory and other cognitive abilities. Alzheimer’s specifically targets memory, thinking and behavior. The disease occurs when abnormal proteins develop in the brain, harming cells and disrupting an individual's ability to communicate and function normally. Between 60% and 80% of dementia cases are Alzheimer’s disease, and the risks heighten with increased aging, according to the association’s website.
This disease is progressive, meaning symptoms worsen over time. Symptoms like memory loss, confusion, delusions and behavioral issues can eventually lead to an inability to understand or respond to the surrounding environment, according to the Alzheimer’s Association website. Alzheimer’s can also physically affect an individual. Someone with the disease may have trouble speaking, swallowing and walking, especially as it progresses to the later stages.
Mark Applegate, the co-chair of the Springfield walk, became involved with the association after Alzheimer’s affected three of his family members — his grandmother, mother and uncle. He said supporting the disease and learning about it gives him a way to honor his family members and fight for them, even when they’re gone. He reflected on seeing how the disease affected his mother.
“When she developed it we were kind of skeptical. Like she’s sharp as a tack, how can they say this?” Applegate said. “You figured out pretty quick that, yeah, this isn’t normal, this isn’t normal aging. She’s doing things that are abnormal and she's having problems that are abnormal.”
Applegate remembers a moment he had with her in the later stages of the disease. He said he was visiting her in her nursing home in 2018, and he was pacing back and forth with her, something that Alzheimer’s patients sometimes do.
“She stopped in the middle aisle and looked at me, and said ‘Mark?’ She remembered my name, which is rare,” he said. “And she said ‘Is there something wrong with me?’ She was finally coming to grips with the fact that it was affecting her.”
She had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease since 2009.
He then promised her that he would do anything he could to find a cure for it and that he would always be there for her until she was gone. She had the disease for six more years before passing away. Applegate joined the Alzheimer’s Association following that moment in the nursing home, and he’s been committed to supporting research about the disease, participating in studies and clinical trials and exploring the science behind it.
Applegate said that his first walk came from a support group he had joined. A sense of isolation or loneliness is common among caregivers or family members being impacted by Alzheimer’s, and he said that the support groups offered by the association, and the walk itself, gave him the sense of community he needed in that time.
“Until you’ve kind of walked through it a little bit, it’s hard to explain. It’s not the same as other diseases,” he said.
He added that just seeing the sheer amount of people going through the same thing as him at his first walk made him feel empowered, hopeful and no longer alone.
The majority of individuals affected with Alzheimer’s are above the age of 65, but getting the disease before that age is possible. It is called early or younger on-set Alzheimer’s. While there is no known cure for Alzheimer’s disease, organizations like the Alzheimer’s Association raise the funds necessary for advancing research about the disease, treatment options and providing care and support resources.
In 2023, they raised approximately $100 million to support Alzheimer’s care and research. Their goal is to find a cure for the disease.
The Alzheimer’s Association website offers resources for both individuals with Alzheimer’s and for caregivers. For caregivers, they provide a 24/7 helpline that offers support, information in over 200 languages, local resources and crisis assistance from a dementia expert. Additionally, they have safety tips, opportunities to join support groups, educational programs and dementia care resources.
For individuals with Alzheimer's, their website has tools to maintain physical and emotional health throughout the diagnosis. It also offers educational information about how the disease can impact themselves and their loved ones.
But research about Alzheimer’s plays a big part in supporting those with the disease. Alzheimer’s Association currently invests $450 million in over 1,200 active projects within the field of Alzheimer’s research, according to their website. These projects explore new technology, treatment strategies, brain health and prevention.
One of the biggest advancements in research about Alzheimer’s is the possibility of prevention or an early diagnosis. Their website emphasized that participating in clinical trials and studies is a critical research tool in understanding the disease and whether prevention or a cure is possible. They have resources for clinical trials, studies, brain donations and other ways to get involved in research advancement, whether you have the disease or not.
