| Alzheimer's disease was originally named after Dr. | | | | patients who have experienced severe dementia. Dr. |
| Aloysius "Alois" Alzheimer, who was a German doctor | | | | Alzheimer identified characteristics such as a thinning |
| that specialized in psychiatry and neuropathology. The | | | | cerebral cortex, peculiar clumps now called amyloid |
| term "Alzheimer's disease" was first coined in a book | | | | plaques and entangled bundles of fibers that came to |
| written by Dr. Emil Kraepelin, an accomplished German | | | | be known as neurofibrillary tangles. Such changes in |
| psychiatrist and said mentor of Dr. Alzheimer. | | | | the brain had previously been observed, and a |
| Dr. Alzheimer was born in Markbreit am Main | | | | common speculation is that Dr. Alzheimer did not |
| Germany on June 14, 1864, and went on to become | | | | make a clear attempt to classify his findings as a |
| a doctor after earning his degree from | | | | new disease. However, a speech on his reported |
| Würzburg University. The case that eventually | | | | findings in 1906 is believed by many to be the first |
| led to the nomenclature for the disease we now | | | | collective presentation linking the symptoms of |
| know as Alzheimer's disease began with a woman | | | | presenile dementia with the physical changes that had |
| named Frau Auguste D, a 51 year old patient who | | | | taken place in a patient's brain. |
| was admitted to the Municipal Mental Asylum, the | | | | Nonetheless, in Handbook of Psychiatry (eighth |
| hospital where Dr. Alzheimer was a physician. The | | | | edition), Dr. Kraepelin commented on the findings |
| patient exhibited worsening behavioral and cognitive | | | | from the autopsy and included use of the phrase |
| symptoms such as short term memory loss, auditory | | | | "Alzheimer's disease" in his description. In 1911, Dr. |
| hallucinations, paranoia and aggressiveness. Dr. | | | | Alzheimer used the term again in a paper. Though |
| Alzheimer began to study the patient. At the time of | | | | many argue to this day that Dr. Alzheimer was not |
| the patient's death in 1906, Dr. Alzheimer had begun | | | | responsible for the discovery of the disease, the |
| working at the Anatomical Laboratory of the Royal | | | | term "Alzheimer's disease" caught on. Within a few |
| Psychiatric Clinic at a university in Munich, where he | | | | years, the name Alzheimer's disease was well known |
| worked with Dr. Emil Kraepelin. After her death, the | | | | and began to be used by physicians for diagnosis. |
| patient's brain and records were sent to the clinic for | | | | Other characteristics have since been discovered that |
| further research. | | | | help physicians identify likely cases of Alzheimer's |
| While Dr. Alzheimer's observations were not classified | | | | disease, though there are no definite means of |
| as new discoveries in the medical field, he identified in | | | | diagnosing the disease until after death. |
| the woman's brain characteristics associated with | | | | |