The History of Alzheimer's Disease
The loss of intellectual and social abilities in older age has been recognized and described throughout history. In 1906, a German physician, Dr. Alois Alzheimer, found a collection of brain cell problems.Today this de-generative brain cell disorder is called as Alzheimer's disease, which is named after its discoverer. Alzheimer's disease gives the impression of being a disease of the twentieth century; however, the various disorders, which comprise the disease, have probably existed for centuries. Thus Alzheimer's disease history existed much before twentieth century.
Dr. Alois Alzheimer first found the disease by doing an autopsy on women who had died of dementia and found the disorder. He subjected her brain to microscopic analysis. The examination showed the changes that Alzheimer had never witnessed before. Parts of the brain showed tangling and other parts showed clumping of brain matter. Later research showed that the younger people who had died of dementia displayed the same brain abnormalities. This is the first known case of Alzheimer's disease and this is why it is name after the doctor that found the problem. Further studies found that this type of dementia occurred far more often in older people, with their brains showing the same abnormalities at microscopic level.
There has been a great amount of information that has been learned regarding Alzheimer's disease history concerning the problems around the brain cells and the effects that Alzheimer's disease causes. In early 70's and 80's Alzheimer's disease was a label for patients over the age of 65. However, now there have been reported cases of people having symptoms well before this age. Typically, an aggressive type of Alzheimer's disease that occurs in patients under the age of 65 has a known genetic factor, while the development of the disease in patients over 65 has a number of other factors in regards to its development, such as health, environment, and occupation.
A promising new era in Alzheimer's disease history has opened up with recent advances in science and technology. Cognex is the first FDA-approved drug, which increases the amount of neurotransmitter acetylcholine in the brain and can slow down the process of Alzheimer's disease. Since then, there have been many other drugs introduced to the world for this disease as well. But these medications can only help slow the process down and not to eliminate it all together. Researchers are trying to find better ways to help patients deal with the outcome of the disease as well as trying to find a way to stop it form occurring in certain patients. Particular hormones such as estrogen and anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin have been found to have a mediating effect, and environmental factors, such as mentally trying occupations, dance, and chess have been found to decrease older people's chances of developing Alzheimer's disease.
The diagnoses of Alzheimer's disease can still only be made through an autopsy like in the first case. There are now ways for doctors to determine the disease early by taking history and a physical examination of the patient. Alzheimer's disease history is still very similar to the ways of today and there is still no known cure for the disease and for the people that are dealing with it.