Coping and living with Alzheimer's disease

This weekend, hundreds of people will gather in St. Paul to learn more about Alzheimer's disease and dementia at a conference called Meeting of the Minds.

More than 94,000 Minnesotans are living with Alzheimer's disease, with an estimated 254,000 people involved in their care.

Nationwide, the disease is the sixth-leading cause of death.

Are we close to finding a cure? And how can those who live with this debilitating disease cope with the long goodbye?

Angela Davis sat down with Dr. Ron Petersen, director of Mayo Clinic's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, and Michael Horvich, an author and the primary caregiver during his partner's illness, ahead of this weekend's conference.

Guests

• Dr. Ron Petersen — director of Mayo Clinic's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.

• Michael Horvich — keynote presenter at the Meeting of the Minds conference in St. Paul and author of "Alzheimer's: A Love Story."

To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above.