Who Was Alzheimer’s? Few people know that he died in Wrocław

In 1903, Auguste D. became the patient of Alois Alzheimer. the woman had problems with orientation, was hallucinating and delusional. Alzheimer’s spent a lot of time talking to the patient as well as studying the disease that affected her. When Auguste died in 51, he also examined her brain. It was not until 1904 that his notes were found – the first case study of a person with Alzheimer’s disease.

1. When Alois Alzheimer devoted himself to the case of Auguste D., his approach to medicine was not at all common
2. He was distinguished from his colleagues by the fact that he paid a lot of attention to conversations with the patient, and not only to analyzing her symptoms or test results
3. Auguste was first described as an Alzheimer’s patient in 1910.
4. More information can be found on the Onet homepage.

Alois Alzheimer – who was the discoverer of the disease?

Alois Alzheimer was born on June 14, 1864 in Germany. When he was 24, he graduated from medical school and took a job in a hospital for the mentally ill and epileptic. In 1903, at the urging of a colleague, Alzheimer moved to a psychiatric hospital in Munich. It was there that his research into the mysterious disease that is today named after him began.

It all started with Auguste D. who, at 51 years old, was hospitalized with unusual symptoms. The woman had memory lapses, aphasia (forgot words and it was difficult for her to construct sentences), she was confused and experienced hallucinations and delusions. It was an unusual set of various ailments that did not give Alzheimer’s peace. The doctor carefully noted all the symptoms observed in Auguste, but also spent a lot of time talking to the patient. Here he differed significantly from his colleagues, for whom the disease itself was important, not the person experiencing it.

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Auguste died in 1906 at the age of 55. Then Alzheimer’s research entered the next phase. The medic decided to supplement his news about her disease with an analysis of the woman’s brain. He discovered the accumulation of amyloid plaques, which today is one of the basic symptoms of Alzheimer’s. Such structures cause excess calcium to penetrate into neurons, leading to their death. Among the atypical finds in Auguste’s brain were also characteristic neurofibrillary tangles (i.e., filamentous changes in the cytoplasm of neurons). Alzheimer’s also discovered that Auguste’s brain was atrophied (atrophied).

Alois Alzheimer prepared a lecture, the case study of Auguste D., which was published a year later. It was not until 1910 that a colleague of Alois for the first time in writing called the case of Auguste Alzheimer’s disease. Today, according to the World Health Organization, about 50 million people worldwide suffer from dementia. 70 percent This group includes patients suffering from Alzheimer’s.

Interestingly, Alois’s notes, including a list of symptoms, notes from interviews with Auguste, and tissue taken from her brain were not found until 1995.

In 1912, Alois Alzheimer moved to Wrocław and became the director of the Psychiatric and Nervous Diseases Clinic. He died just three years later of myocarditis. He was 51 at the time.

Alzheimer’s disease. What are the symptoms?

Today, Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most depressing ailments that can arise among the elderly. In the first two phases, it is not associated with physical symptoms and is located in the patient’s brain. He consistently begins to lose consciousness. Auguste D., as noted by Alois Alzheimer, said bluntly: “I have lost myself”. And, in the case of patients with this disease, unfortunately the same is true.

In the first stage of Alzheimer’s disease there are distractions and difficulties in absorbing the information provided. There are also memory disturbances, mood swings and, in some cases, symptoms of depression.

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When the disease enters the second stage, patients also develop speech difficulties, aphasia, and confusion. At this stage, patients may not recognize their family members. They also develop aggression. It happens that in the second stage of the disease, auditory hallucinations (patients hear voices) and delusions occur.

The last, third stage of Alzheimer’s disease, physical symptoms also come into play. Patients become dependent, often no longer able to move around and no longer control their physiological functions.

New opportunities for sick people and Alzheimer’s. Drug and vaccine

Currently, Alzheimer’s disease is incurable. You can only slow down the patient’s progressive decline in consciousness. However, medicine is constantly trying to move forward, and scientists are looking for ways to reverse this disease process.

High hopes are now placed on aducanumab – the substance that was included in the first approved drug for alzheimer’s disease since 2003. It is supposed to work on the cause of the disease, not on its symptoms. The US FDA approved the administration of aducanumab in early June this year, but it took place in an atmosphere of great controversy. The drug is very expensive, and studies to date have not clearly shown its effectiveness. In addition, scientists who oppose its administration to patients believe that it can cause serious side effects.

At the same time, research on a vaccine is also carried out, which is to protect healthy people against Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists want it to be given to patients who are already showing symptoms. The vaccine has already passed the second phase of clinical trials. It is not yet known whether it will be effective in treating the disease.

Also read:

1. Senile dementia – symptoms and subsequent stages of the disease [EXPLAINED]
2. The Alzheimer’s disease vaccine is getting closer. She underwent further tests
3. Are footballers at higher risk of brain disease?
4. A way to detect Alzheimer’s early. The key is the way we speak

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