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When Russ Schulke laughs, his wife Myrna laughs with him. When he cries, Myrna cries. After nearly 50 years of marriage, they share a life of emotional extremes, but Myrna doesn’t even know Russ is her husband.

“She just knows I’m a good person taking care of her,” Russ said. Holding onto Myrna’s hand, Schulke spoke candidly about caring for his wife, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at 55. Myrna is part of a growing percentage of people younger than 65 stricken with “early-onset” Alzheimer’s.

In her early 50s, Myrna’s symptoms—including problems with driving, making mistakes with finances and withdrawing from friends—were becoming obvious, but Russ didn’t accept that she had Alzheimer’s disease until many years later. Even after Myrna was diagnosed with the disease, Russ couldn’t admit it.

Suzanne Belser, executive director of the Alzheimer’s Association’s Montana chapter, said there is still a major stigma involved with the disease, and many consider it a mental illness.

“People are not willing to divulge the fact that they have (Alzheimer’s) until they have no other choice. It’s a hard thing to have, and at this point, it’s a death sentence. There is no cure.”

Read entire article: Alzheimer’s: Alzheimer’s: The rising epidemic and the race for a cure