Families of dementia patients struggle to cope with the heartbreak as their loved ones slowly disconnect with reality. Institutions as well as caregivers are overwhelmed by the disability, Liu Zhihua reports.

For Beijing resident Cao Guirong, 56, life is like being in prison, hopeless.

Since 2005, when her 59-year-old husband began to suffer from dementia before a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, she has been watching him lose memory and the ability to take care of daily activities day after day, with no way to stop the progress.