Gordie Howe's dementia fight personal and public

DONNA SPENCER The Canadian Press Published:

At 83, Mr. Hockey is still in demand and on the move. Gordie Howe is about to embark on another series of fundraisers to support dementia research.

It's a personal cause. The disease killed his wife, Colleen, in 2009 and is beginning to affect him.

His son Marty says, "He's a little bit worse than last year, but pretty close to about the same."

Howe's family hasn't sought a diagnosis of exactly what kind of dementia he has. They did that with Colleen, who died at 76 of Pick's disease. Pick's is a rare form of dementia marked by changes in mood, behavior and personality, followed by memory loss similar to that experienced in Alzheimer's.

Gordie Howe's dementia is currently mild. Another son, Murray, a radiologist, says his father's symptoms don't fit either Alzheimer's or Pick's.