• Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast: Well-being and hope for dementia patients, caregivers

an older white woman with gray hair sitting alone on a bed, looking out a window and thinking

November is Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month, a time to raise awareness of the disease while recognizing the important work that caregivers do when caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's or dementia.

Approximately 5.8 million people in the U.S. age 65 and older live with Alzheimer's disease. Of those, 80% are 75 and older. Of the approximately 50 million people worldwide with dementia, between 60% and 70% are estimated to have Alzheimer's disease.

For those living with Alzheimer's and their caregivers, common questions include: 

  • When it comes to memory, what is typical aging? 
  • What is the difference between Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia? 
  • How can you keep your brain healthy? 

On the Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast, Dr. Jonathan Graff-Radford, a behavioral neurologist at Mayo Clinic, and Angela Lunde, an investigator in Mayo Clinic's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center — both co-authors of the second edition of "Mayo Clinic on Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias: A Guide for People With Dementia and Those Who Care for Them" — share stories of those living with dementia and offer practical advice for caregivers.

Watch: Dr. Graff-Radford and Angela Lunde discuss Alzheimer's disease.

Read the full transcript.


For the safety of its patients, staff and visitors, Mayo Clinic has strict masking policies in place. Anyone shown without a mask was recorded prior to COVID-19 or recorded in an area not designated for patient care, where social distancing and other safety protocols were followed.

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