How was Alzheimer`s discovered?

In 1901, Dr. Alzheimer met Auguste D., a 51-year-old woman who became his patient at the asylum for the next four years until her death. Her condition steadily deteriorated displaying memory loss, difficulty with speech, confusion, suspicion, agitation, wandering, and screaming when bedridden. She became incontinent and unaware of her surroundings.

When Alzheimer performed the autopsy in 1905, he found her brain had shriveled and neurons had disappeared. He also discovered the characteristic “neurofibrillary tangles” and “senile plaques” that we now know as the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Alzheimer presented his findings to a group of psychiatrists in 1906, the first public description of this new disease. When he made this discovery, Dr. Alzheimer was unaware that the disease would be named after him and would also become the most common form of dementia in older people.