He would forget that he had his dinner only an hour after he had eaten. He would forget he had retired and get ready for work. He would sometimes lose his way home, lose his keys, his money.
A former Garda superintendent, John Costello, has Alzheimer's disease. Yesterday his wife, Nancy, bravely recounted what 15 years of the illness has meant for him, for her and for their six children.
Mrs Costello was speaking at a briefing for politicians and the media, given by the Alzheimer Society of Ireland in Dublin yesterday, to mark World Alzheimer Day. The society is calling for a consistent and long-term funding arrangement between itself and the Department of Health.
"We need . . . funding to consolidate our current services and ensure further development," the society's national development officer, Mr Kieran Healy, said.
Dementia affects 33,000 people in Ireland, the vast majority of whom have Alzheimer's disease. It affects 0.1 per cent of those under 65 years, 5 per cent of those over 65, and 20 per cent of people over 85 and being age-related, changing demographics means it will become more prevalent.
Prof Brian Lawlor, of the department of psychiatry in the elderly at St James' Hospital, Dublin, said the numbers suffering from the disease were projected to double over the next 50 years unless treatment to delay onset of the disease was developed.
Ms Winifred Bligh, director of the Alzheimer Society, stressed the importance of reaching out to sufferers.
In Mr Costello the illness set in soon after he retired. He now lives full-time in a nursing home.
The Alzheimer Society of Ireland can be contacted on (01) 284-6616
