GREENSBORO, N.C. — November is Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month.
According to the Alzheimer's Association, nearly 200,000 people live with the disease in North Carolina.
The disease hits close to home for one Greensboro woman.
Curleen Johnson lost both her mother and brother to Alzheimer's. She uses her voice to help others who struggled through a similar situation.
"My passion is for the caregivers and family members because we often get forgotten in the midst of it all," said Johnson.
Her 85-year-old mother died from Alzheimer's in 2010, then years later her brother passed away from the same disease.
"They don't know who you are. Each day I never knew what I was going to get," said Johnson.
Johnson said her mother had a stroke that led to Alzheimer's and her brother went through a stage of not eating. That's when he eventually lost his memory.
"We know so little about what they do you know when they are trapped there," said Johnson.
She supported them every step of the way. "You want to make sure they know that you're there," said Johnson.
Michael Verenes, a neurologist with Novant Health says typically patients 70 years and older develop Alzheimer's. The most common symptom is memory loss but there are others.
"They start to become less organized like they aren't taking care of themselves as much, sometimes it can cause language and speech troubles," explained Verenes.
Johnson said understanding the early symptoms of Alzheimer's is key.
"The awareness of it will keep a caregiver from feeling so helpless because they'll know what to expect with each stage of it," said Johnson.