Alzheimer's Disease

What was his name? Where did I put the keys? Who am I? If these and similar questions often trouble you, it could mean that either you are awfully absent-minded or, worse, suffer of Alzheimer's disease.

Alois Alzheimer (1864-1915) was a German psychiatrist who spent his adult life practicing in asylums. He became particularly interested in one of his patients, Auguste Deter, a 51-year-old woman with serious memory problems. Deter could not remember her name and often behaved like a child lost in a foreign land. When she died, Alzheimer had her brain tested. The research helped him understand that it was the accumulation of certain proteins in the brain that caused dementia.

Alzheimer published his theses in 1906 and soon his name was widely associated with the disease. But according to the Online Etymology Dictionary, it wasn't until 1912 that English speakers learned about the German psychiatrist due to S.C. Fuller's essay in Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, entitled “Alzheimer's Disease.” The same source indicates, however, that the name broke to the mainstream only in the 1970s.

Although it's been over a century since Alois Alzheimer informed the public about his findings, the disease still baffles scientists. “A definite test to diagnose Alzheimer's disease, even in patients showing signs of dementia, has not yet been developed,” informs the New York Times. Time magazine, on the other hand, warned in August of 2008 that among other things, “the chemicals in antiperspirants could (...) contribute to problems like Alzheimer's disease or cancer.”

Alzheimer's disease spares no one, even the most powerful, including American presidents. Ronald Reagan told the world about his dementia problems six years after leaving the White House, but some journalists and scientists thought the Gipper had developed the disease while still being the commander-in-chief. “It is highly likely that he [Reagan] had Alzheimer's disease while in office. It is surprising how well a family member, or White House staff, can cover for someone with early dementia,” wrote Dr. Bruce Leff to the New York Times.

The Alzheimer's Association, a non-governmental health organization, estimates that in the United States alone there are five million people living with Alzheimer's disease. This number worldwide is even more staggering: 24 million people. Alois Alzheimer made a great leap by discovering the illness. It is up to his successors to find the cure.