NonFiction Tuesday: The Vanishing Family

I love a good non-fiction book, and The Vanishing Family: Love, Fate, and the Quest To End Dementia by Robert Kolker is my most recent five-star nonfiction read.

This is a heartbreaking story, and since my dad died of Alzheimer's, I understand the devastation of dementia personally.  However, this family, composed of nine siblings is unique because the FTD (frontotemporal dementia) that afflicts their family members is genetically passed on. Each family member has a fifty percent chance of contracting this disease.

 

Barb is the youngest of the nine siblings and has watched her mom fade away right before her eyes.  Slowly, several of her older siblings also begin to fade away.  Barb becomes determined to find a cure, or at the very least a way to help future generations who may suffer the same fate.

I had a hard time putting this book down.  The story was so interesting, and despite the fact that it is heartbreaking, I enjoyed reading it.  Kolker combines one family's story with information and research about dementia and shows how little can be done for the people who are diagnosed with it.  Of course, I pray that there will be a development in the treatment and cure of dementia soon, and that other families will not suffer like Barb's.  Hopefully Kolker's work will also help by bringing attention about FTD to the forefront and create an interest in more research and funding.