The Inheritance: A Family on the Front Lines of the Battle Against Alzheimer's Disease

Written by Niki Kapsambelis

Narrated by Callie Beaulieu

Every sixty-nine seconds, someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Of the top ten killers, it is the only disease for which there is no cure or treatment. For most people, there is nothing that they can do to fight back. But one family is doing all they can.



The DeMoe family has the most devastating form of the disease that there is: early onset Alzheimer’s, an inherited genetic mutation that causes the disease in 100 percent of cases, and has a 50 percent chance of being passed onto the next generation. Of the six DeMoe children whose father had it, five have inherited the gene; the sixth, Karla, has inherited responsibility for all of them. But rather than give up in the face of such news, the DeMoes have agreed to spend their abbreviated years as part of a worldwide study that could utterly change the landscape of Alzheimer’s research and offers the brightest hope for future treatments—and possibly a cure.



Drawing from several years of in-depth research with this charming and upbeat family, journalist Niki Kapsambelis tells the story of Alzheimer’s through the humanizing lens of these ordinary people made extraordinary by both their terrible circumstances and their bravery.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Apr 14, 2017
• ISBN: 9781515987291

Niki Kapsambelis

Niki Kapsambelis was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. She worked for several years as a newswoman for the Associated Press in New England, Los Angeles, and Pittsburgh. Her work has appeared in publications around the world, including The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and People magazine. She lives in Pennsylvania. The Inheritance is her first book.

Reviews for The Inheritance

[dianekeenoy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an amazing book, non-fiction of how several families with the Alzheimer's gene used their precious years allowing themselves to be studied as part of a world wide study. The DeMoe family, with father, Galen "Moe" and mother, Gail had six children. Moe developed Alzheimer's at an early age and died by age 58. Of their six children, five inherited the genetic mutation that causes Alzheimer's in 100% of people with the gene and a 50% chance of being passed on to the next generation. These incredible people allowed themselves and their family to be an important part of the studies that, hopefully, will lead to hope for future treatments and a cure for this horrible disease. I think every one of us has had to deal with this nightmare disease in our families or will do so in the near future. What these families have done and are still doing to help the doctors to find treatments and hopefully a cure for Alzheimer's in our lifetime is nothing short of heroic. Definitely recommended.