Product Details

• Actors: Maria Shriver
• Format: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Hbo Home Video
• DVD Release Date: July 28, 2009
• Run Time: 533 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001UXJGJ2
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,354 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Alzheimer's Project" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Alzheimer’s is the second-most-feared illness in America following cancer, and it is the nation’s sixth leading cause of death. Is such anxiety justified? The answer, until recently, was not comforting. The Alzheimer’s Project consists of 4 films. The anchor of The Alzheimer’s Project series is Momentum in Science which features 25 leading scientists, a primetime state-of-the-science report revealing the most cutting-edge research advances. The three additional primetime specials (The Memory Lost Tapes; Grandpa, Will You Remember Me? With Maria Shriver; and Caregivers) capture what it means to experience the disease, to be a child or grandchild of one who suffers, and to care for those who are affected. Alzheimer’s is an irreversible and progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills. Since advancing age is the strongest risk factor for Alzheimer’s, as the baby boom generation reaches retirement in 2011, the number of those affected will soar. Hard scientific inquiry is demonstrating that there are a number of ways that we can improve our chances of remaining cognitively vital throughout a long life. These findings are presented in this special.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hope for the hopeless, May 12, 2009

By 

Margo "classics lover" (Fort Myers, FL USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Alzheimer's Project (DVD)

My parents are in their 90s and we just assumed when they were in their 80s that senility/dementia was just something that came along with the territory of advanced age. The five years between 85 and 90 were the most painful years of all our lives. We had no information on Altzheimers, no specialty doctors (like geriatric medicine), no housing facilities that would take both of them -- after 70 years of marriage they refused to be separated. We tried to get caregivers 24/7 but could only get untrained babysitters. And it cost a fortune. Then we viewed this wonderful documentary.

We learned a thousand things about the disease that we didn't know before. We learned what medications there are to slow down the disease. We learned that age is only one marker of the disease, as is heredity. The vignettes of the patients and families and doctors and caregivers are touching. They give the general audience an idea of what these people are going through. More important, though, is what the documentary tells us about our future as we age. Every man, woman, and adolescent ought to see this film to understand 1) what is happening to their dear ones and 2) the liklihood of your getting the disease.
As the documentary states, the brain is a muscle that can put out more neurons if it is oxygenated (exercise, exercise) and if one's lifestyle is sedentary, the brain atrophies.
Please watch this, and tell eveyone you know about it.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST HAVE, May 17, 2009

By 

Jennie Jennings (La Crosse, Kansas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Alzheimer's Project (DVD)

I work with the elderly. This DVD collection was shown on HBO, I watched it and was so taken with the contents that I purchased it so that everyone at work could view it. Understanding Alzheimer's is very important to everyone, not just health care workers. This collection helps others to understand what the person affected is going through and what you can do to help. My husbands grandfather suffered from this disease for 7 years until his death. After watching the DVD's my husband now understands what was really happening. He stated that he wished he could have seen this when his grandfather was in the early stages to help prepare for what was happening and how he could have helped more.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best information ever, May 12, 2009

By 

V. A. POMATA "Cool Grandma" (Aldie, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Alzheimer's Project (DVD)

My maternal grandparents both died having "dimentia". We now suspect that it was Alzheimer's. Three of their daughters later died of Alzheimer's. One of those daughters was my mother. I have been an active advocate for Alzheimer's research for 10 years.
Before Ronald Regan announced that he had the disease, no one talked about it, and certainly did not advocate research. I have seen the awareness grow over the years, but this particular series is the absolute best I have seen rearding Alzheimer's and the devestation it brings to families. I only wish that all major networks would play these tapes all in the same time frame (like the presidential speaches) so that more people will be truely aware of this horrible disease. We all are likely to get it eventually as we are living longer and longer. What a blessing it would be to humanity to eradicate Alzheimer's.
Huge kudos to Maria Shriver and the Alzheimer's Association for this wonderful film.