Alzheimer's Day 2022 will be celebrated on September 21 all around the world. The day is celebrated as a part of Alzheimer's Month, a 30-day-long occasion organised by Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) for spreading awareness and educating people about the facts and myths related to Alzheimer's disease and dementia.
Alzheimer's is a special case of dementia which targets a certain section of the brain and the early symptoms affect the part of the brain responsible for learning, thinking and memorising. It gradually affects the thoughts, language and memory of a person. Though dementia and Alzheimer's have a lot in common, they are not the same. Dementia is a more general term and Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia. The risk of Alzheimer's increases with age but that does not mean young people are immune to it.
Alzheimer's disease has become very common in recent times as many people get diagnosed with it. It is really hurtful for the family of the patient to see their loved one struggling with daily, simple tasks and find them hard to remember. Some movies have shown the struggles of people with Alzheimer's and how their partners dealt with their condition. Let's remember some love stories that showed the dilemma of couples tormented by Alzheimer's disease.
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Alzheimer's Day 2022: Movies Based On Alzheimer's
Live Twice, Love Once
This Spanish tragic comedy was released in 2019 and stars Mafalda Carbonell, Oscar Martinez, Inma Cuesta and Nacho Lopez in pivotal roles. The movie focuses on a kind and good-natured retired mathematics professor Emilio gets anxious after getting diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Afraid of losing all of his memories one day, he decides to find his lost love from when he was young and fulfil a childhood dream of his with the support of his dysfunctional family.
The Notebook
Starring Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling in lead roles, this 2004 sleeper hit features a patient named Duke in a nursing home who tells a romantic story to a dementia patient from his notebook. The story is about two young lovers, Noah and Allie, from 1940 who belonged to different classes of society. While Allie was an heiress, Noah was a mill worker. They meet in South Carolina and fall in love but their backgrounds pose several hurdles in the way of their love.
Away From Her
Released in 2006, this movie stars Julie Christie, Gordon Pinsent, Olympia Dukakis and Michael Murphy in important roles. The movie is about a married retired couple Fiona and Grant who live happily in rural Ontario. However, Fiona is diagnosed with Alzheimer's due to which she begins losing her memories and is shifted to a nursing home. Soon she loses all memories of Grant and gets closer to another patient at a nursing home as Grant watches her from a distance.
U Me Aur Hum
Starring Ajay Devgn, Kajol, Sumeet Raghavan, Karan Khanna, Divya Dutta and Isha Sharvani in important roles. The movie begins with a cruise trip where Ajay is convincing her son to tell his feelings to the girl he likes. He begins telling his own love story to his son and an elderly woman, telling them about how he met Piya, a barmaid on a cruise trip he took with his friends fell in love and married her. However, she was soon diagnosed with Alzheimer's while she was pregnant and forgot all about him.
The Leisure Seeker
This comedy-drama that released in 2017 with Donald Sutherland and Helen Mirren in lead roles. The story is about an elderly couple Ella and John Spencer who discover that they have cancer and Alzheimer's respectively. Before their fatal illnesses get worse, the couple decides to go on an unforgettable road trip to Hemingway House one last time. They have bittersweet moments as they try to make the most of their time left with each other.
A Moment To Remember
This 2004 South Korean movie stars Son Ye-jin and Jung Woo-sung in main roles. The story is about an accidental meeting between a designer Su-jin and a construction site foreman named Chul-soo. They have different social statuses but they keep bumping into each other and falling in love. They are leading a happily married life when Su-jin is diagnosed with Alzheimer's which leaves them troubled as she is burdened with the fact that she will soon forget him.