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Alzheimer's disease or the 'living death' was named after Dr
Alois Alzheimer who discovered it in 1907, when he described the
amazing effects the disease had on the brain of a 51 year old
woman who had apparently died of dementia.
When examined under a microscope, her brain showed changes that
had never been seen before.
While in some parts there was a clumping of brain matter in
other parts it was tangled together.
When his research discovered the same twisting and deformations
in other patients who died of similar causes the condition
carried his name and became known as Alzheimer's disease.
However, his research coincidentally concentrated on younger
patients so at first this produced a false impression that
Alzeimer's disease only affected the young, with older sufferers
being falsely diagnosed with pre-senile dementia or senile
dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT).
Now we know that the reverse is actually true and that
Alzheimer's, with its distinctive brain abnormalities, is much
more common in older patients than on the young.
This initial confusion has complicated matters enormously
because now the whole group of conditions are all known as
Alzheimer's disease.
The Royal College of Physicians describes Alzheimer's disease as
follows ... "Dementia is the global impairment of higher
functions, including memory, the capacity to solve the problems
of day to day living, the performance of learned perceptuo-motor
skills (our learned responses such as washing, dressing and
eating), the correct use of social skills, and the control of
emotional reactions in the absence of gross clouding of
consciousness."
This definition can't possibly convey the complex symptoms and
distress that characterise this condition.
Those who personally know and love someone who suffers from it
describe the gradual loss of memory, impaired judgement and
changes in behaviour and temperament as 'a living death'.
About the author:
Discover the information you need to know about Alzheimer's and
all forms of dementia. The risks, potential causes, available
treatments, daily activities, and more at www.Answers4Alzheimer
s.com
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