Work Possible With Early Alzheimer's

About 200,000 Americans are estimated to have early-onset Alzheimer's disease, which means the disease is found before age 65. Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, and it a causes significant memory and thinking problems. There is no cure.

Tennessee Women's Basketball Coach Pat Summitt, who announced her diagnosis - and her intention to keep coaching - this week, is 59.

There is no typical job scenario for early-onset Alzheimer's. Whether a person with the progressive disorder can continue working successfully depends on his or her case and circumstances, and to what extent the disease has impaired brain function.

"Every case is different and different patients progress at different rates," said Dr. Patrick Lyden, chairman of the neurology department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. "The most important thing is to work closely with a neurologist, talk to your family and your co-workers, and everybody is different. Some people can work longer than others."

The disease can strike people even in their 30s, and others who are in their mid-life, at the peak of their careers - even while raising young children. For those like Summitt who vow to keep working, it takes a dedicated support system.

In a video announcement of her news, Summitt noted that she would be "relying on my outstanding coaching staff like never before."

Lyden recalled one patient who served as the CEO of a Fortune 1,000 company when he developed dementia. His co-workers were able to double-check his work and still benefit from his expertise for several years.

Another of his patients continued working at his family's dry cleaning company every day until his condition worsened.

"It's a topic that we all need to think through. This is going to be happening more and more. If a workplace doesn't have a plan, they might want to think about developing one," Lyden said.

Summitt told the Washington Post that she hopes to coach at least three more years.

According to the newspaper, the first signs of memory problems started when Summitt started losing her keys more frequently, forgetting basketball team meetings and freezing when it came to offensive plays.

"I'm very impressed that she decided to go public because I think a lot of people would have a tendency to feel like they would retire for personal reasons and not be open," said Dr. Marc Gordon, neurologist and Alzheimer's researcher at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, New York.

The disease is a spectrum - some people stay in the mild phases longer than others, but ultimately patients lose their ability to remember and learn new information.

The disorder begins in the hippocampus, the structure of the brain crucial for formation of new memories. The pathology of Alzheimer's, characterized by plaques in the brain, then spreads, but its course is unpredictable.