Around the globe, nearly 45 million people are affected by Alzheimer’s Disease or related senile dementia.

Among China’s increasingly ageing population, there are more than nine million Alzheimer’s patients; the largest number in any country.

Big Story this week presents a remarkable film from Shanghai.

“Please Remember Me” is a powerful love story of a man struggling to care for his ailing wife of 43 years.

Shu Feng agonizes over how to help Lou as she slowly loses the memories of a life time. “A solution, there is no solution,” Feng said as he struggles to decide whether to institutionalize Lou.

Lou was a school administrator before her retirement. Now at 85, medical examiners report she has a mental age of four.

Her step son notes “she has no memory left. She doesn’t even recognize me.”

The film is directed by Shanghai Director Zhao Qing, produced by Du Feng. This is its television debut. It recently won three Awards at the Guangzhou Documentary Film festival. In presenting the Awards, the jury noted “Please Remember Me” is a Chinese film dealing with “universal issues” impacting everyone across the globe.

Love, old age, and the ravages of the mind this week on Big Story.