A Surprising History - What Is Alzheimers Disease: Alzheimers

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A surprising history

The medical profession used to consider Alzheimer's disease a rare disorder that struck in middle age. This assumption was based on a report published in 1907 by a German doctor named Alois Alzheimer. During an autopsy, Alzheimer discovered microscopic changes — including abnormal neurons, tangled fibers, and clusters of nerve endings — in the brain of a 51-year-old patient who had died of progressive dementia. The report attracted attention within the medical community, and thereafter, progressive dementia in a person younger than 65 was called "Alzheimer's disease."

Doctors used to believe dementia in people over age 65 was caused by cerebral atherosclerosis ("hardening" of the brain's arteries), and it was labeled "senile dementia." (Senile simply means "old," and dementia is literally "deprived of mind.") But attitudes began to change in the 1970s. Evidence accumulating from autopsy studies suggested that Alzheimer's disease was, in fact, the most common cause of dementia in older persons. Because people were living longer, health professionals and elected officials alike were paying more attention to the problems of the elderly population. As a result, the National Institute on Aging was established in 1974, with one of its primary goals to conduct and support research on memory loss.

With the 1984 publication of diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer's and other irreversible dementias, physicians began diagnosing the disease more frequently. Meanwhile, the Alzheimer's Association, founded in 1979, began raising public awareness about the disease.

Last updated:	January 23, 2007