Alzheimers Disease History

Alzheimer's disease history

The progression of mental deterioration in older age has been recognized and described throughout history. It was not until the 20th century that a collection of brain cell problems was found by Dr. Alois Alzheimer, a German physician in 1906. Today this degenerative brain cell disorder takes on his name.

He first found the disease by doing an autopsy on a patient that died and found the disorder. This is the first known case of Alzheimer's disease and this is why it is name after the doctor that found the problem.

There has been a great amount of information that has been learned since the early part of this century concerning the problems around the brain cells and the effects that Alzheimer's disease causes. The majority of Alzheimer's diseases cases are found to develop later after the age of 65. However, there have been reported cases of people having symptoms well before this age.

In 1993, the FDA approved the first drug to treat Alzheimer's disease Cognex, 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. 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.

Like the first case of Alzheimer's disease, the diagnoses of it can still only be made through an autopsy. 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. There is still no known cure for the disease and for the people that are dealing with it.

There are still only medications that can slow down the process of the disease and to help the symptoms of it. These medications can only help slow the process down and not to eliminate it all together. This is some thing that researchers are trying to find a cure for and will continue doing so until one is found. There is still hope and there is no reason to give up on the disease if a person is diagnosed with it. Support and care is the most important part of the problem for everyone involved.