Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia worldwide generally affecting the elderly, but it can occur in younger people too, especially when there is a family history of early-onset dementia.
According to South Africa’s 2011 census, there are approximately 2.2 million people in South Africa with this particular form of Dementia. 
The disease is progressive and dementia symptoms gradually worsen over a number of years. 
In its early stages, memory loss is mild, but with late-stage Alzheimer's, individuals lose the ability to carry on a conversation and respond to their environment.
There is a genetic component that renders someone susceptible to the onset of the disease but genetics is not the only factor involved in the development of older-age Alzheimer's. 
Early stages of Alzheimer's presents with word-finding and short-term memory difficulties, such as losing keys, forgetting to pay bills, forgetting names of people and objects, and becoming lost in familiar places.
Life expectancy is between 5 and 10 years after the onset of the initial symptoms of Alzheimer’s and renders the patient dependent on others.