An estimated 4.5 million people in the United States have Alzheimer's disease.

An estimated 19 million people have a family member with the disease.

Approximately 14 million people in the United States will have Alzheimer's disease by the middle of the 21st century unless science finds a way to prevent or cure the disease.

One in 10 persons over age 65 and nearly half of those over 85 have Alzheimer's and younger people can also get the disease.

According to the Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's disease is a brain disorder named for German physician Alois Alzheimer who first described it in 1906. Alzheimer's disease attacks the brain creating dementia, which the common term for the loss of memory and other intellectual abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer's disease symptoms include confusion, trouble with organizing and expressing thoughts, misplacing things, getting lost in familiar places and changes in personality and behavior.

At the end of September, The Fountains at The Albemarle of Tarboro has organized the annual Edgecombe County Memory Walk. The walk will be on Saturday, Sept. 29 in Braswell Park on Western Avenue in Tarboro. The registration begins at 9 a.m. and the walk will begin at 10 a.m.

The Memory Walk is looking for people to sponsor a team to walk, volunteer the day of the walk, make a financial contribution or have your organization be a corporate sponsor.

"People can get family, friends and church members to sponsor them, all you need to do is collect the money and bring it in the day of the walk," said Director of Community Relations Shannon Tippette Ulrich, "and we'll be handing out prizes for the person or organization that has raised the most amount of money."

Current sponsors for the walk include The Fountains of The Albemarle, Guardian Care of Scotland Neck, Keihin, McRay Studios, Rotary Club of Tarboro, Barnhill Contracting Co., Piggy Wiggly, Telco Credit Union, United Hospice, LaCades Catering, Carpet Hut, Edgecombe-Martin County Electrical and Albemarle Animal Hospital.

For more information you can contact Ulrich at The Fountains of The Albemarle, 823-2799.