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Dr. Dean Reports: As the numbers grow so does the likelihood you will face Alzheimer's in your life.

Learn more: 4 Reasons Why Assessment is Essential for People with Dementiasessment/

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Karen: I just keep hoping that they find a cure. Man 1: Right now, 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease. That number has doubled since 1980 and will more than triple again to 16 million by the year 2050. Healthy brains house our thoughts, control our actions, and store the memories of who we are. When Alzheimer's strikes, healthy brains die. Woman 2: Sometimes I feel, what is today? I don't have a calendar. Man 1: Plaques destroy neurons and memories. Man 2: I just don't remember, period. Man 1: We think of Alzheimer's as a disease of old age, but that's always the case. Karen: I was 49 and it just devastated me. Who would ever believe that you could get it at this age? Man 1: Karen Waterhouse is one of 450,000 people under the age of 65 with Alzheimer's. Man 3: The disease is even uglier, I think, at this early onset. You're in a different stage of your life. More is being asked of you. Man 1: It can be misdiagnosed as depression or Parkinson's disease. Man 3: The younger you go, the more likely it's caused by a known gene mutation that can be passed from parent to child. Man 1: So patients are motivated to find treatments for themselves and their children. Man 3: I think we need a coordinated effort to maximize their volunteerism, coupled to the most sensible sorts of clinical trials. Man 1: While it's believed that gene mutation causes early onset, there's also new research about the causes of the more common late onset Alzheimer's. Woman 3: We stumbled into the concept. It wasn't like we were looking for it. Man 1: Like a pancreas, a healthy brain produces insulin. In a brain with Alzheimer's, insulin levels are much lower. Woman 3: They had a brain form of diabetes. They had the insulin resistance, and they had the loss of insulin, and that's why we dubbed the term type III diabetes. Man 1: Researchers gave mice drugs to stop insulin from working. Within months, their brains were half their size and full of harmful plaque. Woman 3: This is the brain that got the drug that basically knocks out the insulin. Man 1: Damage was reversed with drugs that improve insulin function, showing that therapies to treat diabetes may also treat Alzheimer's. Another important avenue of research is in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's. Man 4: People get a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease after they've had it for several years. So I think we do too little, too late. These brown areas are tangles. Man 1: The only way to confirm Alzheimer's has been in autopsy after death. But now, researchers at UCLA have developed a new imaging technique that detects it in the living brain, even before symptoms start. Man 4: So years before the person would actually have symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, we could detect it. Man 1: A small molecule injected into patients binds to abnormal proteins in the brain, and allows doctors to see spots where Alzheimer's is forming from very early to late in the disease. Man 4: People who are very normal may get a test like this and get started on a preventive medicine so they may live a long life and never get Alzheimer's disease. Man 1: While she waits for a breakthrough, Karen just lives as fully as she can for as long as she can. Karen: I'm just hoping that they find a cure, because I don't know. I feel that's the only way that I'm ever going to get to see grandkids and be able to enjoy them.

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