Journey through the History of Alzheimer’s Disease
A century after its discovery, scientists are beginning to grasp the complex biology of Alzheimer’s. Now the race is on to develop new tests and treatments
Joelle Bolt
This article was produced in partnership with the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative by Scientific American Custom Media, a division separate from the magazine’s board of editors.
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Dementia has been around since antiquity, but scientists identified Alzheimer’s as a brain disease only a century ago. Clues to its biology emerged slowly, and the field struggled. But discoveries accelerated since the 1990s, through advances in numerous fields, including genomics, brain imaging and immunotherapies. Today, as scientists chase new diagnostics and therapies, the stakes remain high.
Joelle Bolt; Sources: Phyllis Barkman Ferrell; “Milestones” by the Alzheimer’s Association; Tangle visualization: P. Liu et al., Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy 4, 29 (2019); Robert Katzman: S. Pincock, The Lancet 372, 1804 (2008); First clinical rating scale: S. Tomaszewski Farias, Neuropsychology 22, 531 (2008).
This article is part of The New Age of Alzheimer’s, a special report on the advances fueling hope for ending this devastating disease.
Learn more here about the innovation ecosystem that Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative is building to speed breakthroughs and end Alzheimer’s disease. Explore the transforming landscape of Alzheimer’s in this special report.
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