For years, music teacher Judith Stewart played the piano every day.

Then one day, five years ago, she sat down at the piano and couldn't remember how to play.

She was eventually diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.

People with Alzheimer's usually experience worsening memory loss and as the condition progresses, people may experience confusion, disorientation, disorganised thinking, impaired judgment, and have trouble expressing themselves.

In the end stages of the disease, people lose their ability to communicate, sometimes forget loved ones and become bedridden. It is a terminal illness.

"Her memory is actually pretty good," said Mrs Stewart's daughter, Elizabeth Stewart, an insurance underwriter at Max Reinsurance.

"Before she was diagnosed I always thought people with Alzheimer's were really old and they forgot people's faces.

"She will remember next week that her picture was taken for this article. She hasn't forgotten anyone really. It is more her motorskills."

Mrs. Stewart was 67 when she was diagnosed and at this time, she began to lose the ability to write, to drive the car, to cook herself a meal and even to dress herself. But the loss of her piano playing was perhaps the biggest blow.

"It makes her really upset when she thinks about the fact she can't play the piano anymore," said Ms Stewart. "It has been really tough for her."

Now Mrs. Stewart enjoys listening to CDs of music and watching concert DVDs.

She is a big fan of Susan Boyle who was made famous by becoming the 2009 runner-up of the British television programme and talent search 'Britain's Got Talent'.

Ms Stewart said one of the early warning signs of the disease was that her mother began accusing her husband and two grown children of taking things.

"She didn't want to go out and didn't want to see people as much," said Ms Stewart. "She was more nervous. She found it difficult doing things."

Before she became sick, Mrs. Stewart helped to start Project Action with Cindy Swan, which sends a bus around to transport elderly people to different parts of the Island. "She would have trouble doing the checks," said Ms Stewart. "She had a hard time with little things that most people find easy, such as using the ATM machine."

Ms Stewart said after her mother's diagnosis, there was no support from the medical community. "We left the doctor's office, and that was it," Ms Stewart said. "We were never to hear from anybody again."

Ms Stewart said she and her mother felt a terrible sense of isolation after the diagnosis.

"You don't have anyone telling you what to do next," she said. "In other countries you would have someone assigned to your case who would come in and assess and make suggestions about what you should do. Here you are just left to your own devices."

For this reason, Ms Stewart is in the process of setting up a website to act as a clearing house of information for Bermudian families dealing with the illness.

"The website is really meant to be a one-stop-shop of information about the disease," said Ms Stewart. The website will include advice on hiring a caregiver in Bermuda, advice for caregivers who might be suffering from burn out, and legal advice, among other things.

Law firm Trott and Duncan have offered to do the legal information for the website on topics like assigning 'power of attorney'.

"I found that when my mother was diagnosed, it was very tough to get information from anyone," said Ms Stewart. "I would ask the doctors repeatedly 'is there any help available for people'. They said 'no, you have to do it all yourself'."

But she found a lot of the advice from doctors to be conflicting, confusing or inaccurate.

By talking to other families in a similar situation, she found that there are at least two companies Helping Hands Home Care Services, and Eldercare, that will send staff into the house to care for an elderly person or an Alzheimer's patient.

Ms Stewart's website will also include basic facts about Alzheimer's such as drug treatments, symptoms and early warning signs of the disease.

Scientists are still trying to uncover the causes of Alzheimer's, but a build-up of proteins in the brain characterise Alzheimer's disease.

It is thought to be caused by genetics, lifestyle factors or some combination of the two. Diet and exercise are thought to be factors, in some cases.

There is growing evidence for a link between heart health and brain health. People with healthy hearts are less likely to suffer from Alzheimer's.

People with a family history of the disease are two or three times more likely to develop it.

But Alzheimer's does not run in Mrs Stewart's family. Her mother was 96-years-old when she passed away recently.

"She was sharp as a tack," said Ms Stewart. "Even she noticed there was something wrong with my mother."

She said it is easy for caregivers to get burnout when taking care of someone with Alzheimer's. "We have had care now for her around the clock since September," said Ms Stewart. "Before I would go up every morning before work to help her get showered and dressed when she couldn't do it any longer.

"It evolved into I would go up there every day and go up in the evenings, and take her out and make dinner. I would also go up there on weekends."

Ms Stewart hopes to use the website to also collect some statistics about the disease on the Island. "You don't know who has it, or how many people have it," she said. "I want to have a statistics page on the website, so that people when they log in can say 'I have Alzheimer's and this is my age', or 'I know someone with Alzheimer's of this age'.

"It would be interesting to know what the statistics are for Bermuda. Around the world Alzheimer's and dementia is growing. The population is growing and people are living longer. I am sure there are a lot of people in the same position as myself."

She said for an island as rich as Bermuda there was not a lot on offer for people with Alzheimer's, and the elderly in general.

Ms Stewart plans to run in the half marathon on Sunday during International Race Weekend to raise money for her website, which will cost about $2,000.

"Anything left over will go to Alzheimer's research," said Ms Stewart.

She hoped to see the website up and running the next couple of weeks. When it is running the address will be www.alzbermuda.com.

Contact her at alzbermudayahoo.com. She has also set up a Alzheimer's Bermuda page on the social networking website, Facebook.

There is also a Alzheimer's Family Support Group that meets the second Tuesday each month at 5.30 p.m. at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. Telephone 238-2168 for more information.