Alzheimer Disease

Alzheimer disease is the most common form of the brain disorder called dementia. People with dementia experience difficulty in carrying out daily activities because of damage to the regions of their brains that control thought, language, and memory. While many older people have Alzheimer disease, it is not a normal part of aging. Currently, there is no cure.

The disease is named after the German physician Alois Alzheimer. In 1906, Alzheimer noticed changes over time in samples of brain tissue of a woman who died of mental illness. Specifically, Alzheimer noticed the development of clumps and tangled bundles of fibers in the brain. The clumps are now known as amyloid plaques, and the tangled regions are called neurofibrillary tangles. Both are hallmarks of Alzheimer disease.