THE STONE FLOWER AROUND TOWN a gallery of gems& minerals 580 NORTH WOODWARD, BIRMINGHAM, MI 48011 642-1108 WHAT IS THE STONE FLOWER? A breathtaking collection of custom jewelry by exclusive artists, of mineral specimens of artifacts carved by exclusive artists. of American Native jewelry and pottery by exclusive artists. A legend lives COME AND BE ENCHANTED Holiday Hours Tuesday-Saturday 10:30-5:30 Our luxury townhome rental coinmunity is now ready for you. We've combined all the best ingredients of an individual home with the advantages of leasing. • 2 and 3 bedroom townhomes featuring 2 1/2 baths • 2-car garage with garage door openers • Full basement • Extra-large walk-in closets • Private walk-out patio • Cathedral ceiling in master bedroom • Central air • Gas fireplace • Full size washer and dryer on main level • Frost free refrigerator • Range with self-cleaning oven • Microwave oven • Datavision intrusion system • Coble TV available • Pool and clubhouse • Special rate on nearby health and athletic club West Bloomfield Drake Rd. North of Maple 661-2900 presented hr GThelO UIVpki3jEGK iup 82 Friday, December 5, 1986 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Combating Continued from Page 81 based in Southfield, currently provides up to four hours of respite care a week to 55 families. Pola Friedman, Endowment Committee chairman and an adminis- trator at Sinai Hospital, es- timates there are 6,000 families in the Detroit area who have a family member with Alzheimer's or a related disorder. "Some of those families desperately need respite care," she said. "Many adult day care centers and nursing homes won't have any part of patients with dementing illnesses. They just can't cope with their confusion, their aggression, their habits of wandering away. And then there's the matter of money. Most medical insurances don't provide for dementia care. That's where the term `The 36-hour day' comes in." Friedman refers to the book of the same name pub- lished by John Hopkins Uni- versity Press in 1981. It has become the "bible" for Al- zheimer caregivers, Friedman says. Siegal, who cared for her father for many long months, along with her sister, said, "You literally feel as though your day is 36 hours long. Because their memories are affected so, they get so they don't know day from night. They sleep when you're awake and wander the house when you're asleep. They can sleep for an hour and think they'd had an entire night's sleep." With so many names on the committee roster repre- sentative of the Jewish com- munity — Doreen Hermelin, Beryl Winkleman, Marlene Borman, Pola Friedman, Bluma Siegal, SuSu Sosnick, John Bloom, Renee Mahler — the question comes up: Is this a disease that is threatening the Jewish population? "Though we're naturally concerned," said Friedman, "it isn't necessarily a Jewish concern. Alzheimer's and other intellectually impairing disorders are becoming a worldwide problem, possibly because we're living longer. Most of the committee mem- bers have had family mem- bers with Alzheimer's. Be- yond that, I think the Jewish community has always been extremely concerned with education and medicine. The fact that there is no means of prevention and there is no cure presents a heartbreak- ing challenge to all of us." SuSu Sosnick's mother, Es- telle Miller, is a volunteer at ADRDA. "My mother's sister has it," Sosnick says, "but even without that tie, she would be out there doing what she could. You should see her! People love it when she answers the phones be- cause she's such a caring, giving person." Beryl Winkleman's hus- band, Isadore, was an Al- zheimer's victim. "It is such a sad and terrible disease, you just can't come away from it without wanting to do some- thing for other people," Mrs. Winkleman said, "And you might think a few hours of respite care can't do much, but for those families it can be a godsend — the difference between making it and not making it." Because the onset of Al- zheimer's is such a mystery, theories about preventions and cures come and go — and come back again. For a while, over-the-counter lecithin was thought to improve memory and behavior, but several studies indicate there is no truth to that claim. Because autopsies of Al- zheimer's victims show an in- creased amount of aluminum in their brains, and because "Alzheimer's is becoming a worldwide problem, possibly because we are living longer." studies suggest there may be an inherited genetic factor involved, some family mem- bers stay away from alumi- num pots and pans, antacids and antiperspirants — all sources of the metal. Though scientists think the alumi- num is probably there al- ready and cannot be intro- duced, Sosnick says, "Why take chances? It's a small price to pay, going without those things, or finding al- ternatives." Then there is the genetic factor — the possibility that blood relatives can inherit the tendency toward the dis- ease, if not the disease itself. "That, I think, is our biggest fear, and may be what draws us all to this par- ticular effort," Bluma Siegal admitted. "My sister and I have talked about this many times, and we finally decided that we would treat the whole thing with our usual sense of humor. In fact, when my sister heard that it might be hereditary, the first thing she said to me was, 'I get the bed by the window!' " The Chocolate Jubilee benefit for the ADRDA will be held this Sunday at the Somerset Inn in Troy. The patron's brunch, with honor- ary chair Marilyn Turner, will be at noon. The fundraising Jubilee begins at 2 p.m. and will fea- ture chocolatiers, bakers, candy companies, and ice cream producers (including Rikki Shafer of Chocolatis- simo, Sylvia Lee, Yvonne's To Go, Romaniks, Merchant of Vino, and Gayle's Chocolates) with demonstrations and free samples.