TV evangelist Pat Robertson told 700 Club viewers that divorcing a partner with Alzheimer's disease is justifiable because the ailment is considered "a kind of death," AP reports.

The advice was based on a question by a man whose friend started to date another woman after the wife was diagnosed to be suffering from the disease.

"I know it sounds cruel, but if he's going to do something, he should divorce her and start all over again, but make sure she has custodial care and somebody looking after her," AP quoted Mr Robertson, who chairs the Christian Broadcasting Network.

The evangelist said he does not want to make people who divorce their spouse suffering from the ailment to a guilt trip, but also told TV viewers to get some answers from ethics experts.

Globally, there are about 26.6 million people afflicted with Alzheimer's disease which is characterized by confusion, irritability, aggression, mood swings, language breakdown, long-term memory loss and withdrawal of the patient with decline of the senses.

Robertson's co-host, Terry Meeuwsen, asked from the evangelist if his advise did not go against marriage vows which state the couples would take care of each other "for better or for worse," and "in sickness and in health."

"If you respect that vow, you say 'til death do us part'... This is a kind of death," Robertson was quoted in the program which aired on Sept. 13.

His advice goes against most Christian denominations' teachings that divorce is wrong.

The Alzheimer's Association said divorce is actually not common among couples in which one of the spouses has Alzheimer's disease. However, Beth Kallmyer, director of the association's constituent services, acknowledged that the stress on marriage can be high for couples when one partner has grave illness.

Among the association's directors for Greater Michigan is 84-year-old John MacInnes, who has the ailment. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2005, but his wife Donna opted to stay by his side.

"It was a horrible thing to say.... This is a time when someone needs you more than ever," Donna told MSNBC when asked for a reaction on Robertson's advice.