ABSTRACT
Dementia—a set of illnesses of which Alzheimer’s Disease is the best known and the most common—results from a physical deterioration of the brain, so that the synapses become dysfunctional, coupled with an accelerated dying-off of brain cells leading to shrinkage; the cumulative consequence is extreme cognitive and physiological impairment. The disease is often confused in its early stages with a depressive illness and in later stages with psychosis. The lack of information about the conditions that seem to give rise to the incidence of Alzheimer’s is almost intolerable, so that a succession of theories have attempted to make links with diet and life style. Their way of life was not itself a defence against dementia, but many of those who were found post mortem to have had advanced Alzheimer’s had tested as mentally normal when they were alive.
