Alois Alzheimer: biography of the neurologist who discovered this dementia

One of the problems associated with age is memory loss. When reaching the third age, many people suffer from dementias, which are disabling and generate a lot of psychological discomfort, both for those who suffer them and their closest environment.

Of the diseases in which there is significant memory loss, the most famous is Alzheimer's, characterized by a decrease in the thickness of the cerebral cortex and abnormalities in the neurons.

In this article we will see, by way of summary, a biography of Alois Alzheimer, the discoverer of the disease that bears his name and that is behind most cases of dementia.

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Biography of Alois Alzheimer

Alois Alzheimer was a German neurologist and psychiatrist born in Bavaria, Germany, June 14, 1864. He died on December 19, 1915 in Wrocław, present-day Wrocław, Poland, at the age of 51.

Already in the years when he went to school he showed interest in science, standing out excellently as a student. For this reason, and following the advice of his father, he decided to study medicine, being the first in his family to choose this career.

Vocational training

In 1883 he began his medical studies at the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin, however, within five months of starting, he transferred to the University of Würzburg. During the winter semester from 1886 to 1887 he studied at the Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen. When he returned from that room, he decided to deepen his knowledge in histology and embryology, under the tutelage of the Swiss anatomist Albert von Kölliker. Von Kölliker was the one who supervised the Alzheimer's doctoral thesis: “On the ceruminous glands”.

Although at first the histological studies of Alzheimer's addressed different parts of the human body, the truth is that he considered that the study of body tissues could be very useful to clarify the biological causes behind the disorders psychological.

In 1888 he graduated in medicine and was licensed to practice it throughout the German Empire. That same year he began to work at the Municipal Asylum for the Insane and Epileptic in Frankfurt, where he showed his great gifts as a doctor. In that same city he met Franz Nissl, a great psychiatrist and medical researcher, and they developed a great friendship.

Both carried out several neuropathological studies together and considered that mechanical containment of patients with mental disorders should be reduced, promoting the autonomy and freedom of entered. They considered that a good method to calm the patients was the spa baths. Together tried to find out what were the organic bases of mental disorders. In 1896 he succeeded Nissl as head of the Frankfurt asylum.

Several years later, in 1903, Emil Kraepelin, who is considered the founder of modern psychiatry, invited Alois Alzheimer to join his clinic in Heidelberg. Despite the great opportunity that this entailed, Alzheimer's was only in the clinic for about six months.

Investigation and work: Auguste D.

During his years in Frankfurt, Alzheimer had the opportunity to learn about the case of a patient who would make him famous: Auguste D.

Auguste D. was a 51-year-old patient who had been admitted because had a very advanced state of memory loss. At first, about six months before her admission, her symptoms had been attacks of jealousy, in which she thought that her husband was having an affair with a neighbor. After that, after about two weeks, she began to have memory problems, completely forgetting aspects of her life, which prevented her from doing household chores.

Alzheimer's kept abreast of the progression of Auguste D.'s dementia, noting any new notable symptoms or behaviors. The patient never received any treatment other than baths to calm her down.

When Auguste D. passed away, Alzheimer proceeded to study his brain, convinced that the symptoms had a neurological explanation. He took samples, colored them with chemical dyes, and saw that, unlike healthy neurons, the patient's had a peculiarity never seen in other patients before. In addition to having senile plaques, made up of extracellular matter, in the brain of Auguste D. there was neurofibrillary degeneration, that is, changes in the structures of neurons.

After this case, and once he had published several studies, in 1906 Alzheimer's presented the disease detected in Aguste D. at the conference that would catapult him as a famous scientist. At the 37th Southwest German Psychiatric Conference, Alzheimer presented his research under the title About a specific disease of the cerebral cortex. He indicated that he had been studying an unusual neurodegenerative disease that affected the cerebral cortex and whose main symptoms were memory loss, spatio-temporal disorientation, hallucinations and death.

Although at first Alzheimer considered that the disease that he had discovered was rare, the truth is that it is one of the most common causes behind dementias. Kraepelin was the one who baptized the disease as Alzheimer's in honor of the discoverer of it in 1910 in the eighth edition of the Manual of Psychiatry.

In 1912, Alois Alzheimer was appointed ordinary professor of psychiatry and took over the management of the psychiatric and mental clinic at the University of Breslau.

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Death and legacy

In 1913, on his way to Breslau so that he could take a seat in his recently new position as head of the department of Psychology at Friedrich-Wilhelm University, Alzheimer's suffered a severe cold made worse by endocarditis, which was the cause of his death in 1915.

Just 5 years after the death of Alzheimer's, the disease was already widely known in the scientific community. Researchers of the stature of Ramón y Cajal approached Alzheimer's disease experimentally in order to confirm the findings that the German doctor had found.

Alzheimer's disease has been one of the great concerns since it was described. It implies a serious deterioration both in the autonomy of the patient and in the dynamics of his family environment. There are many research groups that have addressed this disease and thanks to their findings, drugs have been produced that help slow the development of the disease.

Also, thanks to the fact that a name could be given to this disease, there are many foundations dedicated to raising awareness about the disease. disease in society, such as the Pasqual Maragall Foundation, in addition to having an international Alzheimer's day (21 of September).

Although it has been more than a hundred years since Alzheimer's described it, the truth is that not everything is known about this disease, which has come to be considered the epidemic of the 21st century.

Bibliographic references:

• Garcia, S. and Villagómez-Ortiz, A. J. (2008). Alois Alzheimer: doctor of all time. Journal of Medical-Surgical Specialties, 13 (1), 1-2