While cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States (followed by cancer and stroke), Alzheimer’s disease – the sixth leading cause of death – is getting a lot of attention these days. However, I still hear people refer to this devastating illness as “Old Timer’s.”

This misnomer begs the question, “Where did the name of the disease originate?” Dr. Aloysius “Alois” Alzheimer was a Bavarian-born (1864) German psychiatrist and neuropathologist at the Asylum for the Insane and Epileptic in Frankfurt. On a fateful day in 1901, he met a new patient who exhibited memory loss, often expressed by repeating the phrase “I have lost myself.” Planning to conduct a short interview, he recorded this conversation:

What is your name?  Auguste

Surname? Auguste

How is your husband? I think Auguste.

Your husband? Oh, my man.

Are you married? For Auguste.

Mrs. Deter? Yes, to Auguste Deter.

Dr. Alzheimer was captivated; Auguste Deter became his obsession. As her memory loss worsened, he noted that she often expressed unfounded suspicions about her family and exhibited other emotional changes.After her death at the age of fifty-one in April 1906, he took the patient records and her brain to the Munich lab of a colleague, Emil Kraepelin. There, along with two Italian physicians, he used stainingl techniques to identify amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Today, over a century later, theformation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are considered the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Alzheimer is credited with identifying the first published case of “pre-senile dementia” which Kraepelin named “Alzheimer’s Disease” in his textbook “Clinical Psychiatry,” published in 1910.

It is amazing to me that from that time until after 1970, Alzheimer’s disease was almost ignored. Although Congress established the National Institute on Aging in 1974 (which has become the primary federal agency supporting Alzheimer’s research) and Alzheimer’s was recognized as the most common cause of dementia by neurologist Robert Katzman in 1976, some people credit actress Rita Hayworth with the reemergence of research regarding this disease. In the early 1980’s, after several episodes of wandering, she was placed under the guardianship of her daughter. Alzheimer’s was in the headlines and groups were established to explore its causes and seek out treatments.

In 1980, the Alzheimer’s Association was founded by representatives from several family support groups with collaboration from the National Institute on Aging. Tacrine (Cognex), the first drug specifically targeting thinking and memory symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, began clinical trials in 1987 and was approved by the Federal Drug Administration in 1993.

In 1994, Former President Ronald Regan was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. From his announcement letter to the public, here are some poignant excerpts penned by this great communicator:

“In opening our hearts, we hope this might promote greater awareness of this condition. Perhaps it will encourage a clearer understanding of the individuals and families who are affected by it…I intend to live the remainder of the years God gives me on this earth doing the things I have always done. I will continue to share life’s journey with my beloved Nancy and my family…I only wish there was some way I could spare Nancy from this painful experience. When the time comes, I am confident that with your help she will face it with faith and courage…I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life.”

Dear caregivers, may God be with you as you accompany those who are on this “journey.”