How Alzheimer's Disease Got Its Name

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a disease as old as man. It got its name from a German physician, Alois Alzheimer. Dr. Alzheimer was the first person to actually understand what was happening inside the brains of affected people.

He was treating a woman patient who exhibited symptoms of confusion, memory loss and had the unusual symptom of being suspicious of everyone around her.  After her death in 1906, he performed an autopsy and found twisted strands of nerve fibers in her brain as well as dense deposits on and around the nerve fibers.

In 1907, he presented his findings to a medical conference in Germany and described the changes found in this patient. This was the first documented case of Alzheimers. The disease itself is named for this doctor that first brought public attention to it. To this day the diagnosis of the illness is generally dependent upon the detection of these strands.

Alzheimer’s Disease History Continues

Since the beginning of Alzheimer’s disease history, there has been plenty of new studies and research that have been conducted. However, there is still no known cure on the horizon of Alzheimer’s disease history. There are even very few options available for treating the symptoms of the illness. It has been found that Alzheimer’s disease is often genetic and the incidence of early onset Alzheimer’s is actually increased by a genetic mutation of three different chromosomes.  In late onset Alzheimer’s, which occurs after the age of 65, other factors that increase the risk besides genetics include education, diet and environment.

As Alzheimer’s disease history progresses, there has been new research in exactly how these other factors can play a role in a person’s risk for developing this illness. Researchers are also constantly looking for medications and other treatment options that will slow the progression of the disease and hopefully bring a greater amount of quality time for families as a result. Ultimately, medical researchers are hoping against hope to find a cure for this very debilitating illness.

Medications are Discovered and Developed

In 1993, researchers found a medication that will help to slow the early stages of Alzheimer’s, called Cognex. Since that time, three other medications have been approved for use in slowing the decline of Alzheimer’s patients by improving cognitive functioning during the illness. The most recognizable of these is Aricept. All of these three medications have less harmful side effects than the original drug that was developed, showing a definite positive progression in the research occurring in Alzheimer’s disease history.

More research is being done and medications are being developed to help Alzheimer's patients function for longer periods of time. We need to hope and pray that a cure for this terrible disease can be found in the near future.