Alzheimer’s disease

Alois Alzheimer, a German psychiatrist and neuropathologist, discovered the disease while studying the case of a 51-year-old woman, Auguste D., who showed signs of confusion and memory loss that worsened year after year. The disease was characterized by Dr. Alois Alzheimer in 1906 as a “characteristic severe disease of the cerebral cortex.” Since then, it has borne his name.Clinically, Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by memory impairment and cognitive decline, most often associated with behavioral and/or psychological disorders, and leading to a gradual loss of functional autonomy.

Alzheimer’s disease is one of a group of conditions known as “dementia.” According to the World Health Organization, dementia is “a syndrome, usually chronic or progressive, in which there is impairment of cognitive function (the ability to perform mental tasks) greater than that expected from normal aging.” It affects memory, reasoning, orientation, comprehension, calculation, learning ability, language, and judgment. Consciousness is not affected. Deterioration in emotional control, social behavior, or motivation often accompanies, and sometimes precedes, cognitive impairment.”According to the definition of the American Psychiatric Association, dementia syndrome consists of “impaired cognitive functions (memory, language, praxis, gnosis, executive functions, etc.) significant enough to affect daily life and lasting for at least 6 months.”

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, accounting for around 70% of cases. Other causes of dementia include vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (frontotemporal dementia).