Los Angeles, USA - Each day, Frances Chivas sneaks out of her house for 6 a.m. prayer, hoping to get back before her husband wakes up.
Chivas, whose husband, Lemuel, 72, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2003, spends her days as a “shadow” – watching over her husband and the house, making sure everything is done correctly – and, when she can, she naps.
But every morning, after about two hours in church in the Crenshaw area of Los Angeles, she returns to her home with the motivation and strength to go on.
“I have to realize that when it’s too hard for me,” Chivas says, “it’s just right for God.”
A survey to be released today indicates that Chivas’ experience is not unique. The study found that about one-third of people caring for a loved one suffering from Alzheimer’s disease felt “more religious” because of the experience. The study, which surveyed 650 adults nationwide, was conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America.
The survey found that 36 percent of respondents, who identified themselves as religious and non-religious, said they felt “more religious.” This feeling was more pronounced among black respondents – 48 percent.
“When you’re dealing with disease, sickness and tragedy, people get shaken out of their lethargy and begin to ask the ultimate questions,” said Father Paul Kowalewski, rector of St. James’ Episcopal Church in Los Angeles. “And when they do, they find God, or God’s presence.”
More than 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, a neurodegenerative illness most recognized by symptoms such as memory loss and disorientation. Alzheimer’s disease, more common in the elderly, progressively worsens over a roughly 10-year period, and ends in death. There is no cure, and only “modestly successful” treatments exist, said Dr. Jeffrey Cummings, founder and director of UCLA’s Alzheimer’s Disease Center.
About 20 million Americans are caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. The majority of these caregivers are family members, spouses or adult children.
Because caregivers bear the majority of the burdens – for example, the frustration of patients who frequently do not remember that they don’t remember – they often suffer shortened lives, and can lapse into substance abuse and depression, Cummings said.
“It’s become, it’s been called, the ‘36-hour day,’ ” Cummings said. “Because there is no minute in which the caregiver can afford not to be vigilant over the patient, and that makes for a very trying kind of challenge.”
Although Chivas was previously religious – she was raised a Baptist and attended church on Sundays – she said after her husband’s diagnosis the church “anchored” her even more.
“I couldn’t do it alone, and even though I was centered around God, I had to seek him even more, because it started to get more hectic, and there were no answers,” she said.
For Chivas, 51, the anxiety and stress ultimately led to an ulcer that caused her to be hospitalized for five days last November. She said since then she started attending the morning prayer at West Angeles Church of God in Christ.
Lemuel Chivas, a former Los Angeles elementary school principal, used to be upbeat and outwardly intellectual, his wife said. Now, Chivas said she sees her husband reduced to tears a couple times a week, complaining of the “splitting” in his head or his inability to do something. Like caregivers for Alzheimer’s patients all over, she watches helplessly. And so she pushed herself further into religion.
According to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, by 2050 almost 16 million Americans are expected to have Alzheimer’s disease. It affects nearly 50 percent of those older than 85.