A unique series by cable TV network HBO, which aims to change how people think of Alzheimer's so they will put time and money into finding a cure will be available to various online video services.

According to HBO documentary films president Sheila Nevins, HBO will offer portions of its four-part Alzheimer's Project to YouTube, iTunes, MySpace and Facebook as well as 15 supplemental films surrounding the series.

This is in an attempt to provide greater exposure for the series which runs on HBO over four consecutive nights beginning May 3 and features four documentaries, 15 short films, a book, a community outreach program and a website (HBO. com/alzheimers).

"We do certain public-service programs that are of value to those that are and are not HBO subscribers," Nevins said. "It's a corporate outreach effort dealing with subjects that we feel have been underserved by the media, including cancer and addiction. We felt Alzheimer's was perfect for a public service outreach campaign."

An estimated 26 million people worldwide have Alzheimer's and in the United States by 2050 there are a predicted 11 million who will suffer from the disease. Maria Shriver, wife of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and executive producer of "The Alzheimer's Project" said, "The numbers are growing at a rate that nobody ever fathomed. As babyboomers age, it is coming right at us and we have to do something."

Shriver added, "This is an epidemic for this generation. A cure is within our reach if we focus on it, allocate the money and pressure our lawmakers. If we don't, the impact has devastating consequences."

A two-year project, "The Alzheimer's Project", starting on May 10, will take a close look at Alzheimer's impact on the victims, their families and will also include a look into the inside the labs and clinics of 25 leading physicians and researchers.

Apart from HBO who will make the full series and supplemental shorts sharable and can be embedded for anyone who wants to post on their own Web sites, Apple's iTunes Store on May 8 will offer an exclusive preview of the first feature film, The Memory Loss Tapes on May 8, with subsequent films available starting May 11. HBO's YouTube site will run an exclusive preview of the second of the four films, Grandpa Do You Know Who I Am, will run on the same day.

MySpace will run trailers and clips from the project on its MySpace Impact channel beginning May 8, and in addition will run an exclusive preview of the third film in the series, Momentum in Science, on its Myspace page (myspace. com/HBO), according to the network. Facebook will offer an exclusive preview of Caregivers, the last of the four films.

There is no cure Alzheimer's currently but, "There are about 90 clinical trials under way in different phases," Shriver said. "There is a lot of hope within the scientific and research community that there is a cure out there, without saying the cure is around the corner."

Shriver's father Sargent Shriver, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1983. "When my father was diagnosed, this was not a disease that people wanted to talk about," Shriver said. "The more families sit down and have these open, honest conversations where everybody can air their questions and express their fears -- that is empowering and really helpful."

Shriver added, "I am hopeful people won't just sit and watch it and think that was moving and sad and then go about their business. It's always a challenge to move people and then move them off the couch."

"I don't know how you can measure the numbers in the traditional way that says X number of people watched it because it's not a conventional show - you can access it when you want to watch it through the various platforms," Nevins said. "But I think it's already a success just being out there because it's needed information for many people."