In 1906 a German neurologist Alois Alzheimer performed a neurological autopsy on a 56-year-old woman who had suffered deteriorating mental health for many years before her death. Alzheimer noticed a disorganization of nerve cells in her cerebral cortex, the area of the brain responsible for controlling memory and reasoning. There were two oddities he found. The first was an accumulation of cellular debris surrounding the nerves he called this senile plaque. The second oddity were groups of nerves that were bunched and twisted he called this neurofibrillary tangles. In the following years as more autopsies were conducted the same oddities that were found in 1906 were found in patients displaying the same symptoms. At that time a prestigious German psychiatrist, Emil Kraepelin, proposed naming the disease in honor of its discoverer Alois Alzheimer. (http://www.Alzheimers.com).

brain disorder that destroys one's ability to reason, remember, imagine and learn. The disease is also known as "senile dementia" or "pre-senile dementia". Dementia refers to the lost of mental health. The term "senile" means old. "Pre-Senile" refers to those patients less than 65 years of age. (http://www.alzheimers.com). Lesions on brain cells that take the form of senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles cause Alzheimer's Disease. Healthy brain tissue is normally arranged in an organized pattern. These knots and tangles throw the brain into mass confusion taking over and destroying healthy brain tissue. This causes the brain cells to stop functioning. Recently a protein Tau has been discovered in these tangles and knots. This protein is found in healthy brain cells, but is found in much larger quantities surrounding areas affected by this disease. Other ailments have been linked to the onset of the disease. These include head trauma, problems with the immune system, blood cancer, thyroid problems and Down's Syndrome. (Frank, 1985)

The fourth stage of Alzheimer's disease is the stage that ultimately leads to death. Patients are unable to recognize themselves and close family members. They become bedridden; and only slight useless movements are made. The only way of communication they use is screaming out (http://www.ahaf.org), (http://www.alzheimers.com).

There are four distinct stages of progression. The progression of Alzheimer's can take from three to fourteen years. This time span is based on the time from diagnosis to death. All patients go through these stages just at different rates. The first stage of Alzheimer's the patient experiences a slowing down of many factors of behavior. They have less energy, slow to learn new things, and their reaction time decreases. Patients experience only mild forgetfulness of recent events, familiar people and places. They have a decrease in judgment, and trust. Also, they become increasingly stubborn and restless. Many people are unaware of the presence of a disease because frequently memory loss is common in the elderly due to fatigue or a period of sickness. (http://www.ahaf.org/alzdis/about/adsymp_body.html);(http://www.alzheimers.com).

Diagnosis of this d

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