If the numbers can be trusted -- and I take nothing for granted anymore, but they're all we have to work with -- Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia are on a pathway to destroying us all. 

Consider just a few of the most recent statistics: 
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• Alzheimer's disease is the 5th leading cause of death in the U.S., killing more people than breast and prostate cancer combined.
• Since 2000, deaths from Alzheimer's have risen by 89%, while deaths from heart disease have decreased by 14%.
• One in three seniors dies with (although apparently not necessary from) one form of dementia or another.
• Someone develops Alzheimer's every 66 seconds.
• Today, more than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's; by 2050, the experts expect the number to rise to as many as 16 million. 

Yet just 50 years ago, this disease (along with others related to the brain) was almost unknown. What's going on?

In some cases, the disease can be genetic. (So much for evolutionary improvements due to positive, additive genetic changes. How can anyone be deluded enough to believe in evolution?) But otherwise, the experts appear to be stumped.

Could it be environmental? Aluminum has apparently been ruled out as a cause, but could it be something else that we're willingly ingesting? Could it be related to vaccines? 

Until questions like these are answered, and Alzheimer's is on the wane, let's hope that our leaders are making plans for caring for the victims of this nasty disease. And let's hope that words like "euthanasia" and "Thailand" are nowhere to be found in their proposals. 

Social isolation has become epidemic in our culture – and perhaps no group feels its effects more markedly than the elderly.
 
A 12/22/16 New York Times article provides an excellent overview of the problem, along with some alarming statistics. For instance, half of all those 85 years and older live alone today. And the loneliness that often results can lead to not only depression, but also a host of physical problems – including an increased likelihood of heart disease and stroke.  One analysis found that the lonely have a 30% higher risk of dying in the next seven years. 
 
This is precisely why I have come to the conclusion that living in a community of people your own age can be the best solution – often even better than living with oh-so-busy children. Whether that means an apartment complex for seniors, a Golden Girls arrangement, or an assisted-living or long-term-care facility, such communities can be the surest way to combat social isolation.  
 
If you’re faced with this sort of decision for yourself or a beloved parent, I hope you won’t automatically assume that the elderly are happiest living with their children. In some idyllic situations, they may be; but I’ve known a number of people who would have been far happier living with their peers. It’s certainly an alternative worth exploring, ideally when there’s still plenty of time to investigate all the possibilities. 

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)
 
This is one of my favorite passages in the whole Bible. It’s transformational and transcendent, and it reminds me daily that, no matter how hopeless today’s problems may seem, those of us who belong to Jesus Christ needn’t worry; after all, this world is not our home.
 
Having instant access to such divine wisdom is one of the most wonderful things about being a born-again Christian steeped in the word of God. I’ve written more than once about the difference that word makes in troubled lives, particularly for those living in nursing homes. But I just read a memoir that has magnified this truth for me. 
 
The book is Corrie ten Boom’s The Hiding Place (Chosen Books, 1971), the story of a family of Christians who, during World War II, risked everything to hide Jews in their home near Amsterdam – and were inevitably caught by the murderous Nazis. The Hiding Place has been sitting on my Must Read stack for years, only recently making it to the top of the pile (and the top of my Favorite Books list) thanks to a lovely Christian book club I’m privileged to belong to.
 
I’ve marked a number of passages for further reflection. But one of my favorites appears on pages 194 and 195 in Bantam’s 1974 edition. Here, Corrie wrote about her ministry to women sharing a barracks in the Ravensbruck concentration camp where she and her sister Betsie were imprisoned for their crimes.  Corrie had miraculously smuggled a Bible into their quarters, and a nasty flea infestation kept the squeamish Nazi officers from interfering with their times of fellowship and worship.
 
Here’s how she described it:
 
“As for us, from morning until lights-out, whenever we were not in ranks for roll call, our Bible was the center of an ever-widening circle of help and hope. Like waifs clustered around a blazing fire, we gathered about it, holding out our hearts to its warmth and light. The blacker the night around us grew, the brighter and truer and more beautiful burned the word of God. ‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? . . . Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.’
 
“I would look about us as Betsie read, watching the light leap from face to face. More than conquerors . . . It was not a wish. It was a fact. We knew it, we experienced it minute by minute – poor, hated, hungry. We are more than conquerors. Not ‘we shall be.’ We are! Life in Ravensbruck took place on two separate levels, mutually impossible. One, the observable, external life, grew every day more horrible. The other, the life we lived with God, grew daily better, truth upon truth, glory upon glory.”
 
I believe the Lord uses all our experiences – including the misery, pain, fear and hopelessness suffered by those locked away in prisons of all kinds – to draw us to Himself, to help us to understand that “things that are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” If you’d like a page-turning reminder of this truth, and you haven’t yet read it, I hope you’ll dive into The Hiding Place just as soon as possible. Then please consider sharing what you've learned with someone who calls a long-term care facility "home." 

Do you love both books and people? Then here’s a volunteer opportunity that could be perfect for you: becoming a mobile librarian at a nearby long-term-care and rehab facility.
 
All you need is the blessing of the facility’s Activities Director, a spare utility cart, a collection of good books and magazines, and a little free time every week or two. You can then make the rounds, inviting each resident you meet to take advantage of your offerings.
 
If I were doing this (and I would dearly love to, given a little more spare time), I’d keep records of who took what. I’d then update those records between residents, noting for future reference the kinds of reading material each one prefers. I think it would really please a "customer" to find, on my next visit, selections chosen especially for him or her.
 
“I know you’re interested in World War II, Mr. Bender,” I might say to the veteran in 247, “so I picked out a few titles that I thought you’d enjoy especially. Let’s take a look.”
 
And to the charming woman in the next room: “You said you like everything about Danielle Steel but the explicit parts. Would you like to give this Kathleen Thompson Norris novel a try? It was written 80 years ago, so you won’t find any offensive parts to skip over, but I think you’ll love the story.”
 
Where to find the reading material?
 
Your facility may already have a library to tap. The nursing home where I hang out has one that’s nicely stocked with everything from classics to current best-sellers, some in the large print editions that old eyes covet. But even if yours does not, how about raiding your own bookshelves, and those of your friends and family? Checking out the selection available at thrift stores such as Good Will, Salvation Army and St. Vincent de Paul? And asking used bookstores to give you a crack at material they’re about to toss out?
 
You can also ask your local library for suggestions. Many library systems hold periodic sales to make room for new reading material, for instance – a great way to build a personal library on the cheap. You might even consider taking special orders from some residents, using your own library card (or theirs, if possible) to pick up just the books they’re looking for.
 
What a great way to be a blessing to people who may have a little bit too much time on their hands – and in the process, to make some wonderful new friends who share your taste in books or magazines, and who might open up new vistas for your own literary adventures.
 
If the idea intrigues you, get in touch with an Activities Director soon. Once you’re rolling, I think it’s safe to say that a good time will be had by all!