The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer's

Sunday, August 3 at 9 p.m.

When the documentary The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer's was originally broadcast on PBS in 2004, more than 10 million people tuned in. Since then, there have been significant advances in Alzheimer’s research, but still over one million more Americans have developed the disease. On Sunday, August 3 at 9 p.m. WXXI-TV 21 (cable 11) and WXXI-HD (cable 1011 and DT 21.1) present an encore broadcast of The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer's. The 90-minute special is followed by a new half-hour panel discussion recorded on the eve of the 2008 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease in Chicago.

Actor and Alzheimer’s champion David Hyde Pierce, who has experienced Alzheimer’s first-hand through the illness of his grandfather and father, moderates a panel of medical experts and scientists who discuss the latest developments in research, early diagnosis and treatment, and what these mean for patients and their families.

The Forgetting documentary focuses on the scientific quests to eradicate Alzheimer’s and on the families whose lives have been steadily ravaged by it. Despite recent advances in the laboratory, the experience of living with Alzheimer’s has not changed much. In fact, of the four principal patients featured in The Forgetting, all but one have died since the original broadcast in 2004. Harry Fuget and Thomas McKenna — who cared so lovingly for their wives as they battled the disease — have also died. As is common with Alzheimer’s disease, years of caregiving took a toll on Harry’s and Thomas’ own health.

The Forgetting follows scientists and clinicians such as Dr. Steven DeKosky, director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the University of Pittsburgh, who will be taking over as vice president and dean of the University of Virginia’s School of Medicine on August 1, 2008. In addition to treating patients like Gladys Fuget, Dr. DeKosky conducts testing to determine whether a person’s memory lapses are the product of normal aging or Alzheimer’s. The number of people living with early stage Alzheimer’s and managing their own lives is quickly rising, due largely to advances in early diagnosis. These people represent a new face of the disease. By 2050, the Alzheimer’s Association projects 16 million Americans will have the disease, up from more than five million today.

As the disease spreads, the brain begins to shrink; personality changes and long-term memories eventually disappear. In the late stages, speech becomes impossible. Then, finally, the parts of the brain that control basic functions like breathing and swallowing shut down. The time between diagnosis and death can be anywhere from eight to 20 years.

For the children of Alzheimer’s patients, there is the added fear of one day getting the disease themselves. In particular, when the genetically linked strain of the disease occurs, it threatens all family members, like the 10 children of Julia Noonan. Julie Lawson remembers the onset of her mother Julia’s Alzheimer’s disease. “People were wondering if she was having a nervous breakdown,” Julie recalls. “A doctor finally diagnosed it, and we had no comprehension of what Alzheimer’s was, none.” When her mother died of pneumonia, Julie felt relieved that their ordeal was over. “I almost felt like we’re done. We don’t have to do this again. And then (my sister) Fran came down with it, and that’s when we realized we’re not done. That’s when I realized the magnitude of this disease. This is going to hit us again.”

Using specially created animations to reveal the complex workings of the brain, The Forgetting helps viewers understand how Alzheimer’s begins, how it does its damage and what kinds of techniques medical researchers are using to arrive at a way of conquering it. And by following the story as leading scientists search for answers to Alzheimer’s mysteries, The Forgetting offers an insider’s glimpse of the latest work on the disease and what potential treatments are in the pipeline.

While there is currently no cure for Alzheimer’s, researchers at labs around the country are searching for ways to slow the progression of the disease. Some of the most promising research has been focusing on plaque deposits in the brain that seem to form long before there is any noticeable forgetting. But being able to see these plaques inside living brains has eluded the grasp of scientists, leaving no way to gauge the impact of potential drug therapies, short of waiting to observe the effects on patients’ behavior. This could take years.

Dr. DeKosky’s team at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center had a key breakthrough in 2004 that involved the development of a staining compound that allows scientists to see Alzheimer’s plaques in living brain tissue without harming the patient. This vital research tool, called the Pittsburgh Compound, could enable scientists to monitor the impact of drugs designed to attack the plaques. In collaboration with radiologists at the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital, the teams have been able to use the Pittsburgh Compound to look deep inside the living brain tissue of research mice. The Forgetting is with the scientists as they begin their first human tests in the U.S., tests that show the Pittsburgh Compound to be a promising leap forward in Alzheimer’s research.

For more information, visit www.pbs.org/theforgetting.

Pictured: Isabelle McKenna, pictured here with her daughter Maureen, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 1990. In the disease’s final stages, Isabelle lost everything but the ability to sense human touch and the steadfast devotion of her family.
Photo Credit: Twin Cities Public Television