TIMELINE THE STUDY OF As healthcare advances, humans are living longer than ever and dementia cases are rising. Dementia is a general term for mental decline, which causes problems with memory, language and behaviour. Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia, which accounts for 60% of cases.
Alois Alzheimer finds plaque on post-mortem brains In 1906, Alzheimer, a psychiatrist, began studying post-mortem brains. While studying the brain of Auguste Deter, a 50-yearold woman who had died with dementia symptoms, he spotted microscopic plaque. This plaque is what causes mental decline, as the brain struggles to send or receive information through the plaque.
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March 2022
Alois Alzheimer names the disease After further study of post-mortem brains and collaboration with colleagues also interested in solving the root of mental decline in the elderly, the disease, was named after Alzheimer. A few years later, just after gaining the chair of psychiatry in Breslau, Alois Alzheimer died aged 51.
Alzheimer's recognised as the most common cause of dementia In a scientific journal, American neurologist Robert Katzman describes Alzheimer's disease as a “major killer” and as the fourth leading cause of death in the US, following heart disease, cancer and stroke. The results of Katzman’s study create more understanding around the subject of mental decline.
