To the editor: As someone who has seen dementia devastate my own family, I know well the personal toll it takes on the lives of families across the state and nation.

My mother suffered from dementia, and while she was never formally diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, she clearly dealt with many of the hallmarks of the condition such as confusion, agitation, an inability to express thoughts and feelings and, toward the end, an inability to physically take care of herself. This taxed my father, who desperately tried to hold on to his role was caregiver but ultimately realized he didn't have the ability to fulfill her myriad physical, emotional and psychological needs. So, we placed her in a nursing home. My father lived with guilt over this decision for years after.

Both of my parents are gone now, but I have never forgotten the way dementia destroyed my mother's and father's golden years. They tried a number of programs, from social activities to more specialized therapy, but navigating such a process under duress is challenging for anyone dealing with the emotional upheaval caused by Alzheimer's and dementia. And I also have never forgotten how involved and informed medical personnel and staff had to be to accomplish even the most basic tasks with my mother, from getting blood drawn and answering general questions to calming her agitation during complicated medical procedures. So the stress caused by the disease stretches well beyond the homes of those who suffer.

The costs to our society are only increasing. The Alzheimer's Association reports that 135,000 people 65 and older in Massachusetts are living with Alzheimer's. An estimated 218,000 family caregivers bear the burden of disease, contributing in part to an estimated $6.6 billion in unpaid care. Perhaps just as troublingly, 16.6 percent of people 45 and older have subjective cognitive decline.

Fortunately, research already has made great strides in identifying this disease well before the classical symptoms appear, and a variety of medical and nonmedical treatments are being actively studied for their therapeutic value.

So there is hope, and it starts with our local community. And that will only grow if we support the Berkshire Walk to End Alzheimer's sponsored by the Alzheimer's Association to be held in Adams on Oct. 18. For more information, visit our site.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Douglas Farmer, Pittsfield